The Past Returned
by IzzyMorgensternXX
Summary: When an old friend visits Jana it is clear that something is terribly wrong. Dark secrets about the wild pack are revealed, leaving Jana questioning who she can trust. The humans are closing in and her friend's actions might well be the final straw. The future of the wolfblood species lies in Jana's paws- can she save them before they lose everything? Jana/Matei Maddy/Rhydian
1. Chapter 1

**14 years ago**

The moon was just setting below the horizon as Arriane awoke groggily and gazed around the tent. She could remember how unusual it had been at first- to sleep under furs, with a solid and secure roof above her head and a bowl of fresh meat next to her pillow, ready for when she woke up. She felt guilty. If only the other members of the pack could have the same luxury.

This is what being a enaid cymar alffa entails, Arriane reminded herself as she gazed over at her sleeping husband, it means having to learn to love luxury, it means having to learn to live with more than others.

Arriane got up carefully, taking a small piece of meat and walking towards where her young daughter was sleeping, furs wrapped tightly around her to protect her from the bitter cold Snowdonia winter winds.

Arianne rolled her eyes and shook her head sighing as looked at the little group. Jana knew better, Arianne thought, but she could hardly judge her. She shared whatever she could with Ceri.

Rhydian slept with a protective arm drapped around Jana, hugging her tightly. On the other side of the red haired girl, slept another girl, the same age as Jana, born in the same month, with hair the colour of a field of wheat.

Nia. Arianne smiled, it was about time that Jana had a friend of her own age who was a girl. Meinir and Hafren were too old for toddler's games, and both had spiteful tempers. Aran, whilst mostly friendly, wasn't really on their level either. Yes, Jana had Rhydian, but they were betrothed. Before long their friendship would develop into something deeper. Arianne and Ceri had been best friends ever since Arianne joined the pack at the age of nine. Arianne wanted Jana to have someone like Ceri in her life, a best friend who would be there for her no matter what.

Nia fidgetted kicking off the blankets and sitting up groggily, before her eyes widden in shock.

She jumped up fast, and bowed her head quickly, "I'm so sorry, my alpha. I know I shouldn't be here. I'm so sorry."

Arianne reached out to stroke the young girl's hair- how she wished she could have more children of her own- she wanted Jana to have brothers and sisters. She knew Jana would be a good older sister.

"Don't fret, dear," Arianne said, before looking over at Alric,"You're welcome here, no matter what that grumpy old fool says."

Nia looked at Arriane with surprised turquoise eyes. She never thought anyone would dare to insult their alpha, no matter their rank.

"Here," Arianne said, passing the piece of meat to the young girl, who looked at as if she were handling a rare precious crystal.

"Thank you!" Nia answered exuberantly.

"Arianne!" Alric yelled, woken up by the young cub, "What on earth is going on?"

"It was awfully cold outside last night," Arianne began.

Alric shook his head, "Not again. You need to talk to Jana about this."

"Papa?" the young red haired girl said, batting away her messy curly hair from her eyes, as she sat up wearily.

"Jana," Alric began, with a sigh, "You know the rules. Beta cubs have to sleep outside with the other members of the pack. It's tradition."

Jana stood up wobbily before racing over to grab the bowl of meat. She turned to look at her father with a stubborn grimace, "I hate tradition."

Alric and Arianne watched in defeat as the three cubs raced out into the woods beyond.

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK  
"Nia!" Jana yelled as she raced after her friend, "No! Stop! We're going to get into so much trouble!"

"I'm not afraid of humans," Nia said with a grin, "Come on! Let's go ask them if they want to play."

Jana stood still, shaking her head, "My Papa already thinks you're a bad in-flu-enz on me. He won't let us be friends if he finds out we've been playing with human cubs."

Nia looked at her friend with a serious and worried look on her face, "I don't care what Alric says, you'll always be my best friend."

"I know," Jana answered, "I'll always be your best friend too. But this is just a bad idea. What would Auntie Ceri say if-?"

"If what?" their aunt answered, appearing suddenly and making the young cubs jump.

"Nothing," Nia said guiltily, staring at her boots.

"We wanted to follow you," Jana said, "To learn more about herbs, we find it fascinating. Then we saw the humans nearby and I said I wanted to go back to camp."

Ceri gave the cubs a doubtful look, "Really? You two have never shown the slightest interest in herbology before. The last time I tried to teach you, you both fell asleep during my lesson!"

Jana bit her lip, "I think I was still feeling poorly then. Mama said I should have been resting instead of going to lessons."

"Your Mama!" Ceri began, shaking her head, "She might be my alpha but I keep telling her that she's making all the wrong decisions. If she had her way, you'd be wrapped up in furs all day long with servants to feed you and give you whatever you want! You need to grow up to be a strong alpha, not a little puppy!"

"Don't you dare call Jana a little puppy!" Nia yelled, flashing her eyes yellow.

"I am an alpha!" Jana yelled defiantly.

"I never said you weren't young lady," Ceri replied, "Nia, don't be so rude! Now, let's go find Rhydian. I just hope he isn't teasing Meinir again."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

 **Present Day**

"It's a dark moon, isn't it?" Katrina asked as she saw Jana knock over a stack of plastic cups that were waiting to be washed up, "You can always take the day off."

Jana smiled, "Thanks, Katrina, but I'd rather keep working and Aran's coming over later today and I've sworn that I'd make him try chicken tikka massala. If I go back to bed now, I won't wake up until tomorrow."

Katrina smiled, "Well good luck with that. Wild-bloods and curry, not sure if that's the greatest idea."

"I like curry," Jana answered, "Besides, it's the only way to get Meinir to eat human food. She can't live on just meat now. If Aran says it's safe, then Meinir won't be so afraid. Then again, she might just be afraid of Gerwyn's cooking."

Katrina laughed, "He's a really bad cook, isn't he?"

Jana nodded, "But until Ceri can slightly get over her fear of fire then it's the only option. Well, at least for the next week."

Katrina gave Jana a questioning look, "Jana? What's going on?"

Jana bit her lip trying not to say anything, but failing, "Ok, ok. Rhydian and Maddy are coming back for the summer!"

"Oh my God!" Katrina yelled, "Seriously?"

Jana nodded, "I've missed them so much! Everything's been so crazy as well, what with the secret being out, I think I've Skyped Rhydian once in the past month. He probably thinks I've been kidnapped or something. I've been trying to text him but you know what the signal's like in wild Montreal."

Katrina grinned, "We'll have to get everyone together- Kay and Kara, the pack. I wonder what Rhydian's going to think now, you know, you and Matei are..."

"He'll just have to get used to it," Jana answered, "He's my brother but he's not the boss of me."

"How things have changed," Katrina started, "It wasn't so long ago that Rhydian was always protecting you. Whenever anything happened he was the one who was there to get you out of trouble. Now you're your own alpha."

Jana sighed, "I know, but, like you say, Rhydian was the one who always got me out of trouble. If he was here, if Maddy was here, I wonder if we'd have needed to reveal the secret. I bet they would have come up with something better..."

"Like mauling Sweeney?" Katrina answered, "Because that was Matei's plan. I don't think Rhydian's would have been much different, not after she tried to take your wolf away."

"Er, well," Jana began quickly, "Rhydian doesn't know about that."

"What?" Katrina exploded, "You mean you haven't told him?"

"I don't know, I just can't," Jana answered frustratedly, before her phone began to ring loudly.

She reached to grab it off the counter, and as she looked up she felt her heart skip with shock and fear.

"Jana, Jana," Katrina said, "What's wrong?"

"Hello, Jana," the young girl said as she walked towards the red haired girl, "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Nia," Jana answered in trembling voice, "What on earth are you doing here?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Maybe her phone is dead," TJ volunteered as he watched his mother pace backwards and forwards across their small kitchen. He didn't like seeing his mother worry like this.

"No," Imara said, "Jana knows better now. After the amount of times I nagged her about it. She knew that something was going on, I text her earlier. I told her to keep an eye out, what if something has happened? I'll send Becca over to the Kafe."

"Wait, what's going on?" TJ answered, pushing away his lunch, he wasn't in the mood to eat anymore, "If Jana's in danger..."

Imara sighed, "It's not that. This wolfblood doesn't pose any danger to Jana. In fact she'd probably protect her."

"Then what's going on?" TJ asked, "What's got everyone so scared?"

Imara sighed, "A wild wolfblood attacked and killed a farmer last night. I don't know all the details. The police are of course looking into this. TJ, they've got a warrant to kill the wild wolfblood. She was seen on a CCTV camera. As soon as I got a good image I sent it to Ceri. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a member of the wild pack."

TJ nodded, "And?"

Imara looked scared, "It wasn't a member of Alric's pack, not really, I mean, she used to be but, something happened, to Jana... Ceri wouldn't tell me the full details. The girl, her name is Nia."

"Nia," TJ said, "Jana never mentioned her. I take it she was exhiled from the pack, or something like that. So this girl killed a human and now she's loose on the streets of Newcastle?"

Imara nodded.

"We have to stop her," TJ said, "There must be something we can do."

Imara shook her head, "After Segolia collapsed, the only people in charge of wolfblood security are the Organisation. I think it's fair to say that they're more concerned about keeping humans safe from us rather than keeping us safe from humans."

TJ sighed defeatedly, "So there's nothing we can do? Nothing at all."

"Yes," Imara said, "Nothing _we_ can do. But Jana might be able to fix this."

"How?" TJ asked in confusion.

"Nia was her best friend," Imara answered.

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

Jana lead the young girl up the stairs and into the flat. She watched Nia closely, noticing how the girl sniffed at everything, her black veins creeping across her face and hands, her eyes going yellow every now and then.

"How can you live like this?" Nia asked, as she picked up a snowglobe from the coffee table, turning it this way and that, watching the snow fall, "What is this heresy? They've put a snow-cloud in a pot!"

Jana sighed, "Nia. What are you doing here? You know the humans are trying to find you."

Nia smiled, "Humans. They always want to kill us, don't they?"

Jana looked at the young girl worriedly, "What happened? I don't believe you just killed that farmer for no reason."

Nia smiled, "You've always seen the best in people, Jana. Always believed they can do such great things. Don't. I don't want you to suffer."

Jana looked at the girl sadly. Nia looked unhealthily thin, her hair was matted and greasy, she looked ill and shaky. Her clothes were covered in mud and leaves and what looked like it could be blood. Her eyes were wild and darting this way and that. She was so different from the little girl Jana remembered.

"Who was that other girl?" Nia asked, "She seemed like a good friend to you. I hope you aren't trying to replace me."

Jana giggled, "Her name is Katrina and you two are as different as snow and sun. I live here with her."

"Like Aran?" Nia asked in confusion.

Jana shook her head, understanding what the young girl meant.

"I doubted you would be with one of them. Where is Rhydian then?" Nia said, "I understand they he was kidnapped and brought to the human world."

"He's with his alpha," Jana began tentatively.

"Oh, Jana," Nia said sorrowfully, taking her friend's hand, "Please tell me he didn't betray you."

Jana smiled reassuringly, squeezing her friend's hand, "No, no. I'm happy. In fact, I have my own, enaid cymar alffa, Matei. He'll probably be here soon."

Jana passed Nia her phone and scrolled to a recent picture of her and Matei at the beach, wind blowing her hair into her face as Matei tried to defend their food from the vicious seagulls.

Nia looked at Jana in terror, "He'll break your heart."

"No, no," Jana answered in concern, "He'll never do that. He's good and kind and brave and amazing and..."

"I should stay here," Nia announced, "To protect you. The human world isn't safe for girls like us."

Jana looked at her friend sadly, coaxing her to sit down on the sofa, which Nia did, with a lot of confusion, "It's not as dangerous as you think. Just let me see, I can help you..."

Jana began to focus, waiting for the memories to come to her... But then she hit a wall.

"No!" Nia yelled, throwing Jana's phone at her. It hit Jana's arm with considerable force, and the screen shattered.

"Nia, calm down!" Jana said, as the girl burst into tears.

Nia looked at Jana with tear stained eyes, "I can never keep you safe, can I?"


	3. Chapter 3

**14 years ago**

"He's so dreamy, isn't he?" Nia said, as she braided Jana's hair. Naturally the braids were crooked, but it was a good attempt for a three year old.

Jana smiled, "I guess he is, but most of the time he's just so annoying. It's like stepping into a bush of poison ivy, not deadly but the stings are irritating for a good while."

Nia nodded, "Well one day you'll be married and then Rhydian will have to do what you say. Just like with your Mama and Papa."

Jana shrugged, "I guess. Do you think my Papa loves my Mama?"

"What a silly question!" Nia answered, "Of course he does."

"They always argue," Jana said, "I think it's all my fault."

Nia shook her head, "No that can't be true. Now come on, your braids are all done. Let's go and find your Mama. The feast will be starting soon."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

Nia rushed into the clearing, spotting Arianne and racing toward her, dragging Jana along with her.

"Look!" Nia announced proudly, "Look what I did Auntie Arianne!"

"How beautiful!" Arianne said, as she worried about just how long she'd have to spend untangling Jana's hair.

Nia grinned, "Thank you."

Alric appeared in the entrance way of the alpha's tent, Rhydian appearing moments later. A small woven basket in his hands.

"Dear Gods!" Alric exclaimed, as Jana raced into his arms, "What on earth has she done to you?"

Jana grimaced angrily before slapping her father straight across the face, taking everyone by surprised and earning shocked and fearful gasps from the pack members who just seen what happened.

"Jana!" Alric yelled angrily, "How dare you?"

"Why do you hate Nia?" Jana demanded sullenly, "Why? She's my friend! You're fine with Rhydian, why not Nia?"

Rhydian cowered sheepishly, wanting nothing more than to run to his mother, but knowing that he could not depart an alpha's presence without permission.

Alric sighed, "You're not old enough to understand."

"Yes, I am!" Jana yelled, "I'm three and a half almost!"

"Jana, enough!" Arianne said, "Now apologize to your father! You don't ever act like that again, do you understand?"

Jana nodded in shock, it was so rare that Arianne ever disciplined her daughter that any time it happened Jana would be so scared, scared that maybe her mother might stop loving her and end up like Nia's.

"Sorry, Papa," Jana answered, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.

Arianne and Alric shared a worried look.

"Nia!" Alric commanded, "You stay away from Jana, understand?"

"No!" Jana yelled, "No, you can't!"

"Alric please," Arianne pleaded, "It can't do any harm for now."

Alric shook his head, "Nia, leave now. Jana cannot be your friend anymore."

"Why?" Nia asked puzzled and afraid, "Jana's my friend. I want to protect her. I want us to be just like Auntie Ceri and Auntie Arianne."

"What on earth have you been putting into their heads?" Alric asked his wife.

"Is it wrong for me to want our daughter to be happy?" Arianne answered angrily.

"Hafren or Meinir would have made better friends," Alric said, "With a little discipline they would have been perfect. Nia is... Unclean."

Arianne shook her head, "I don't believe you. I hope you are very happy with the decision you've made. There'll be repercussions to this. I promise you that much."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK  
 **Present Day**

"I'm worried about Jana," Katrina said. It had been about an hour since Nia had turned up at the Kafe. Katrina wished she had wolfblood hearing because, as rude as it was to eavesdrop, she wanted to listen in to make sure her friend was going to be safe.

"Me too," Matei said, he had barely drunk his smoothie, and kept on glancing up at the flat door, worry evident on his face, "I'm going to check on them."

"Are you sure?" Katrina asked, "What if she's dangerous?"

Matei gave Katrina nervous but stubborn look, "Whatever's going on, Jana needs me."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

Nia sat on the sofa watching in admiration, fear and confusion as her friend made 'lunch'. She watched as Jana walked over to the tall white box like object and felt cold flood out into the surrounding area. She hissed at it.

Jana smiled, "It's a freezer. Keeps meat fresh for longer. This is steak see, from cows. It's good."

Nia looked at Jana in confusion, "You eat your meat like this. What are you doing?"

Jana turned on the oven, setting the timer from half an hour, "I prefer it this way."

Nia shook her head, "Jana, what have the humans done to you? I should have been there to prevent this."

"Nia," Jana said, "You don't need to protect me."

Nia shook her head, "I must."

The doorbell rang loudly and Nia jumped before curling into a ball as she caught the scent. She felt her heart race wildly and started to vein up.

"It's just Matei," Jana tried to reassure her, but Nia was having none of it.

Jana raced to open the door, as Nia moved hesistantly towards the kitchen.

"Hi!" Jana said merrily, kissing Matei on the cheek, "How was your day?"

"Erm, good," Matei answered, hugging his girlfriend to his side, "Are you ok? I heard about Nia. Are you sure you're all right? Katrina said you looked afraid."

Jana bit her lip regretfully, "I'll explain later. Nia, come meet Matei."

Nia stood nervously in the corner of the kitchen, her hands gripping on tightly to the counter, "He smells of humans."

"I go to school with them," Matei began to explain.

"Stay away from me!" Nia exploded.

"You're safe here," Jana tried to reassure her, stepping between Matei and Nia as they stood, cramped in the small kitchen.

"Keep him away from me!" Nia yelled in a panicked tone.

"I'm not going to hurt you or Jana," Matei said, "I swear."

It did nothing to calm Nia down. She was beginning to feel more and more as if the walls were closing in.

That's when everything started to fall apart.

She grabbed the door of the oven open and pulled the tray out ignoring the way that it burnt her hands. Then she threw it in Matei's direction.

Matei had just enough time to pull Jana out of the way and keep himself safe too. They fell back onto the floor, just as the tray fell onto the plastic flooring. A burning plastic smell filled the air and Matei jumped up quickly grabbing for a fire extinguisher and releasing it's contents.

"You could have killed her!" Matei yelled, feeling his wolf long to burst out of him and tear Nia to shreds. No one put is enaid cymar alffa in danger like that.

"Matei!" Jana yelled from where she sat, shocked, on the floor, "Don't!"

"I lost my parents in a fire!" Matei said, reaching out to stroke Jana's hair, brushing it away from her face, and then hugging her tightly, "I'm not going to lose you too."

"Oh my Gods!" Nia yelled, crumbling to the floor, "Jana I'm so sorrry, I swear, I'm so so sorry."

"Just stay away from her!" Matei yelled.

Nia stopped breathing, her eyes lighting up in a menacing yellow.

She pounced at Matei, knocking him to the floor and beginning to strangle him.

Jana tried to pull her away, but she was no match for the older girl who was taller than her and easily pushed her away.

"No, Nia, stop, Nia, don't!" Jana sobbed, trying to fight the girl, "Please, please."

"He'll just hurt you!" Nia said, "He'll just kill you!"

"No, he never would," Jana pleaded, "He's... He's like Rhydian.… Please... You're killing him..."

"He's nothing like Rhydian," Nia said defiantly.

"Please," Jana answered, trying to think of a solution, Matei had stopped fighting Nia now, the strength was fading out of him, "You're hurting me. You're killing me!"

That made Nia stop, she let go of Matei and hugged Jana fiercely to her, sobbing loudly. It took a few minutes for Matei to adjust to being able to breathe again and he just stared at the two girls in confusion and horror. Every part of him was telling him to save Jana, to keep her away from the deranged girl and to never let her out of his sight. But his last attempt at that had nearly killed the both of them.

He heard Katrina race up the stairs to the flat, and saw her look of horror as she saw the mess the flat was in- foam and oil soaking into the floor. He noticed how Katrina was looking at him and realised he'd left his scarf and coat downstairs, his neck must be raw red. He noticed Katrina staring at the two girls, who were both sobbing loudly, Nia's hands were badly burnt and Jana was shaking with fright.

"We need to call Imara and Dr Whitewood," Katrina answered, pulling her phone out her pocket, "Otherwise she's just going to kill all of us, isn't she?"

Matei nodded, "All of us except Jana. She'll never hurt Jana."


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm ok, Jana," Matei to reassure her, as Jana was fumbling with the first aid box, "It's worse that it looks."

She'd already patched up Nia as best as she could, which was difficult as the young wild-blood was refusing any of the human medicines. Jana was still shaking and Matei wanted to just grab her and run out of the room. But he could see from the way she kept looking over at Nia every few seconds that it wasn't going to be a possibility.

"Just let me help you, Matei," Jana pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes, "Please-"

Matei hugged her fiercely, feeling her pounding heart and hearing her fast breathing. He couldn't begin to imagine what it must have been like for her- watching her friend killing the person she loved. He tried to imagine what it would feel like if it had been Emilia trying to kill Jana, but it was a silly thought, Emilia would never do something like that.

"I'm so sorry, Jana," Nia repeated, "I was just so scared. I didn't know what to do."

"It's ok," Jana answered, "I'm fine."

"It's ok?" Matei exploded angrily, "How is any of this ok?"

"Matei, please," Jana begged, "I never wanted you to get hurt. Matei, please try to understand, Nia's my friend."

"I get it," Matei replied with a sigh, "I understand. I just don't want this to be like Carrie. After what happened to my parents, and how she nearly attacked you that time at the Kafe. You can't sacrifice everything to help wolfbloods like her, let Imara deal with this. Let her use her contacts to get Nia help."

Jana shook her head, "No. She won't trust anyone apart from me."

"Not anyone?" Matei asked defeatedly.

Jana shook her head but then paused, "I think there might be someone."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

"Mum, how many times do I have to tell you that it's the video sign for video messaging?" an irritated voice said, with a little bit of mocking mixed in.

"Don't you dare sass me," Ceri replied, as she tried to figure out how to use Skype, "There that's solved it."

"Hurrah!" Rhydian cheered, earning an eye roll from his mum, "So how's life in Stoneybridge?"

"Oh, not much has changed," Ceri answered, as she turned to see Gerwyn raiding the sweet cupboard, he gave her a guilty look.

"Don't forget to mention about Meinir's boyfriend," Gerwyn called out.

"Meinir has a boyfriend?" Rhydian asked with a grin, "Or is it had already?"

"Yes, and human apparently," Ceri answered, "And it's a has. I don't think she's scared him away just yet. Anyway, how are you and Maddy?"

Rhydian blushed, "Well, erm, well..."

"Rhydian!" Gerwyn yelled, "Please tell me you haven't."

"No, no, it's not like that," Rhydian answered, "Maddy's been taking all of the herbs you recommended."

"That's good to hear," Ceri answered, "This one couldn't tell his comfrey from his mandrake when he was your age."

"I wasn't the pack healer," Gerwyn replied indignantly, "I didn't need to. Don't listen to your mother, she is always so rude to me."

Rhydian smiled, "No, it's just Maddy and I. We're looking to move out. There's a friend of Emma's who's a property developer and she's got a farm house that she's selling for a reasonable price. It's just..."

"Well that sounds cool," Ceri replied.

"Mum, please don't use teen lingo," Rhydian answered in embarrassment, "It's just, it's not in Canada. It's in England, I mean it's just outside of Newcastle."

"So you'd be moving back here?" Ceri asked in surprise, "Is that safe?"

Rhydian nodded, "Maddy's parents think so. Now that the secret is out."

"Will they be moving back too?" Gerwyn asked, "It's just I'm quite attached to this little place."

Rhydian shook his head, "They've got jobs here. They want to stay but Maddy misses home, and her friends. Uni's more expensive over here too. We might not get another oppurtunity like this. Just don't tell Jana ok, I want it to be a surprise for her."

"But she hates surprises," Ceri answered in confusion, "Ok, ok. It's your life to risk. It's not like I could tell her anyway, she's not answering her phone."

Rhydian frowned, "That's not like her. I'll try later... Mum what is it? You look ill."

Ceri was frozen as she realised why Jana had not been returning her calls, "She's found her."

"Who's found her?" Rhydian asked panicked, "Mum, what's going on? If Jana's in danger..."

"No, no, Jana's absolutely safe," Ceri reassured him quickly, "Nia. Nia's back. You remember me telling you about her?"

Rhydian nodded, "She put Jana's life in danger didn't she? That's why she got exiled from the pack."

Ceri nodded, "And now she's found Jana again. And at a grave cost."

"What, what cost?" Rhydian asked, "The pack...?"

Ceri shook her head, "Not the pack. Nia killed someone. Not just anyone. I had to lie to the humans. If they found out."

"Who?" Rhydian asked panicked, "Who did Nia kill?"

Ceri sighed, "Her father. She killed her father."


	5. Chapter 5

**14 years ago**

"Wake up!" A panicked voice yelled for the third time, but still the cub didn't stir, "Wake up! Wake up, Jana! Something terrible has happened!"

The cub woke up groggily from her afternoon nap, rubbing her eyes and looking up at her scared friend in confusion.

"Nia," Jana began, "What's wrong? What's happened?"

Nia was shaking, her turquoise eyes bright with glistening tears, "It's Rhydian. He's been kidnapped by humans."

Jana jumped up, horror running through her, turning her eyes gold, "What do you mean kidnapped? What do you mean?"

"The humans," Nia replied, horror evident in her voice, "Auntie Ceri and Uncle Gerwyn left to go hunting, they left Rhydian playing by Big Tree, but when they came back he wasn't there. They searched everywhere, used Eolas and everything. Auntie Ceri always said that a mother could always find their cub, no matter what. But she couldn't, no one can find him. They think the humans took him."

Jana felt tears form in her eyes. The humans had Rhydian. She had to do something, but she was only a little three-year-old cub- what could she do? What could the pack do? If the humans found out about them...

Jana shuddered, "What has my Papa said? Is he moving the pack into hiding?"

"I'm not sure," Nia admitted, "He's talking to an elder now. They've sent out a search party. They're doing their best... But, I'm not sure it's going to be enough."

Jana fell to the ground, sobbing. Nia quickly sprung to her side, hugging the little girl.

"It's going to be ok, though," Nia said, "Because I have a plan, Nia."

Jana looked at her in horror, "No! We can't! What if we get kidnapped too?"

Nia looked at Jana with a determined and stubborn look on her face, "We're not human cubs, Jana. We're wolfblood cubs, wild wolfblood cubs. They won't find us. They won't know where to look. We can stay hidden and follow the humans and rescue Rhydian."

"It's a nice idea," Jana began, "But..."

"But what?" Nia argued, "Rhydian's a beta cub. Your betrothed yes, but they will just find another if they can't rescue him. You're young, they'll just expect you to move on from him. If it was you, your father would go to the ends of the earth to rescue you, but Rhydian, or me. Don't think they care about cubs like me."

Jana looked at the girl in horror, "Nia that's not true."

"My Mama says it is," Nia replied, "My Mama says that Auntie Ceri is a fool to tell me that I'm special. She says that I'm worse than an epsilon cub and that when I'm old enough to be kicked out of the pack I will, because none of them care about me, and she doesn't want me around either because I remind her too much of my Papa and she hates my Papa for what he did to her."

"Nia," Jana said in a quiet frightened voice, "That's not true. We'd never exile you and I care about you. My Mama cares about you. Auntie Ceri and Uncle Gerwyn and Rhydian care about you. We'd never leave you all alone in the wild."

"You wouldn't have a choice," Nia said glummly, "Mama said that there was a vote when I was born, a vote as to whether or not the pack should leave me on a rock to die, because I'm a freak and unnatural, and she said it was 10-9. She wishes they voted differently, because she wants me gone."

"I'm not going to stand for this!" Jana yelled, "She can't speak to you like that. She needs to be like my Mama and Auntie Ceri and tell you stories so you can sleep, and save you the best meat, and make you loads of toys to play with. I'll ask my Papa if there's a way that you can be my sister. Then you won't have to have your Mama anymore, you can have the same Mama as me."

Nia smiled, "You really mean that?"

Jana seemed insulted by her friend's doubt, "Of course! I want you to be my sister. I want it to be me and you and Rhydian, alphas of the pack forever."

Nia grinned, "Thank you, my alpha. Now, should we go and rescue Rhydian?"

Jana nodded contemplatively, "I'm not scared of the humans. I know you'll protect me."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

 **Present Day**

"When was the last time you saw Rhydian?" Nia asked as Jana served a late lunch. It was all food that the young cub didn't recognise and she felt bad for ruining the steaks. But watching Matei devour the- what was it again?- chees-ie natch-os, made her feel less afraid of them, and she found they were actually quite nice. They would have been a lot nice with meat of course.

"In person, about a year ago," Jana answered glumly, "But we chat on Skype a lot."

"What is Skype?" Nia asked in confusion, "And how do you chat on it?"

"Well," Matei began, "It's a programme, I mean it's something that lives within a machine called a computer. But it's not like a living thing, it doesn't breath, but it still lives and..."

Jana shook her head, grinning, "Matei, stop confusing her! I'll show you later Nia. It'll be so cool for you to speak to Rhydian after so long."

"Cool?" Nia questioned, "Will I need to bring a cardigan?"

Matei grinned, "Cool in just a teen way of saying awesome or good."

Nia nodded, "The human world it's so... Weird. Like what it that thing? It's like a cardboard box, but made of plastic, I think. And it has a glass screen which makes a knocking sound when you tap it. I pressed one of the things on it earlier and it started talking to me and people appeared out of nowhere."

"It's a TV," Jana explained, "Television. You watch other people on it, sometimes they're talking about real things going on in the world, that's called the news, but most of the time they're just telling stories. But it's safe because it's all inside that box."

Nia looked impressed, "Why didn't we have one in the wild pack?"

Jana smiled, "I know. I know. There was a lot we were missing out on. But it's just tradition, I guess. Although tradition is changing a lot now. I introduce reading classes, my father followed them up. He says that if the pack wants to buy human medicine and bottled water then they need a way to make money. They need to be able to read to do that."

"Money?" Nia asked, "The human paper."

Jana nodded.

"That they use when they need to answer the call of nature?" Nia continued.

Jana shook her head, "No that's different. A different kind of paper. And both are from trees."

Nia looked horrified.

"I guess you've never been to the human world before," Matei concluded.

Nia shook her head and looked over at Jana, "Just once. When I was very young. I don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough," Matei answered, "If you're planning on sticking around for a while we should probably teach you more about the human world- not just TVs, but phones, shops, coffee, chocolate, makeup, those kinds of things. The kinds of things that girls need in life."

Jana gave him a withering look, "Because that's _totally_ not sexist."

Nia frowned, "I have no idea what sexist is but whatever it is I agree, I think. Jana, you said this one was your enaid cymar alffa. I don't suppose you could annul your handfasting in some way and remarry. You aren't too old really. I just think there's something wrong with him, he smells odd and says weird things. I think he might be crazy."

Matei gave her a speakless look.

"Yes, definitely crazy," Jana said a grin, "Incuribly so. But that's why I love him. And we're not married by the way."

"You're not?" Nia asked in confusion, "But you're clearly..."

There was a loud knock at the door.

Jana ran towards it letting out a sigh as she went. That was close.

Running opened the door, already knowing who to expect.

A worried looking Ceri stood next to an amused looking Gerwyn, who it appeared had already stopped to buy a coffee from the Kafe.

"Hello," Gerwyn began with a grin, "If you could please spare a few minutes to speak to us. Have you see the light?"

Nia looked up at the ceiling, "Oh, yeah. I never noticed that before. It's so weird."

Jana shook her head in disbelief, "We don't have time for you to pretend to be a Jehovah's witness today, Uncle Gerwyn."

"I was just trying to diffuse the tension," Gerwyn said, as he walked into the flat, "It seems like a lot of my humour is needed here, and my sense of style too by the looks of things. Pink and grey, Jana, you should know better?"

"Enough!" Ceri snapped walking over to Nia, who was curled up in ball on the sofa. The plate of unfininished nachos, sitting cold beside her.

"Nia," Ceri whispered, "Carriad."

The blonde haired girl looked up with worried eyes, "Are you going to let them send me away again?"

Ceri looked heartbroken and hugged the girl tightly, "No, carriad, never. Times have changed now. Wolfbloods and humans are closer than ever. In fact..."

"I haven't told her anything," Jana interrupted, "Should I? I mean, people are going to say something soon enough."

"Say something about what?" Nia asked.

"The humans," Jana said, moving to sit down next to her friend, "They know about us."

"But the Oath!" Nia yelled, her eyes glowing yellow and her veins and fangs showing, "Jana what did they do make you tell? Oh, my gods! They tortured you, didn't they? I bet it was that blond bitch's fault. I bet she found it some way and then she told the whole world. And they tortured you, like during the Burning Times. Oh, no. We need to go back to the wild now, back home before they kill us all."

"It's ok," Jana tried to reassure her, "I'm fine. No one hurt me. I'm going to be ok. We're all going to be ok. The humans just need us to answer a few questions and then everything will be good."

"Really?" Nia asked, "Just like that?"

Jana nodded, "Just like that. And we won't need to hide anymore or be afraid of humans."

Nia pondered that, "It sounds like a Snowdonian winter. It sound cool."

Matei grinned, "It will be."

Ceri held the young girl's hands gently, "What on earth?"

"Little accident with some steaks," Jana explained, "I tried to do what I could but..."

"Don't worry," Ceri replied, "I learnt very quickly with you and Bryn that it's best to keep your medicines with you at all times."

Jana smiled, "Thank you."

"So, you didn't say earlier," Matei began, "But I was just wondering why you decided to visit the human world, Nia."

The young girl growled at him, "I needed to see Jana."

Matei nodded understandingly, "She was visiting the wild pack a few weeks ago. Why didn't you... Oh, wait, so how did you get exiled? As far as wild wolfbloods go, you don't seem like you'd annoy them or anything."

"Matei, enough!" Ceri snapped, "Not now."

"Not ever," Gerwyn added, "Jana can tell you later, she knows all the details."

Jana nodded, "Why don't you go and see if Katrina is managing ok? I'll be fine here, I promise."

Matei smiled worriedly, before kissing Jana and leaving the flat. Jana watched him for a few moments, what was she going to do? With Nia and Ceri here it was going to be difficult to just get by like everything was all normal.

"I don't think it's the kind of talk you should be having later," Nia replied.

"Look, Nia," Jana began with a stressed sigh, "I know that you know but Matei doesn't know and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Why?" Nia asked in confusion, "Does the blonde know?"

Jana nodded, "Her name is Katrina. Not the blonde, or the blonde bitch, ok?"

"Yeah," Nia replied, "But you should tell Matei."

Jana sighed and Ceri gave her a pleased smile.

"Oh, hell!" Gerwyn cursed, "And there was me worrying about Rhydian!"

"It's not my fault!" Jana yelled, "With all this going on after we revealed the secret I've been stressed out and I just forgot ok. I just forgot. And after everything that happened with my Mama, I just don't want to say anything until I know everything's going to be ok. I don't want it to be like with Mama and Papa. I don't want to hurt Matei like that. I don't want to tell him and then just ended up losing the baby."

Nia smiled, "I understand. I'm going to be an auntie. Have you thought of names yet? And why aren't you two married?"

Jana sighed, "Later, ok. Later. I'll explain tame dating norms to you later. I'll explain everything later."

"Jana, it's ok," Nia continued, "If you need to rest, then you should. I'll have your pack deliver you sweets and the finest cuts of meat and I'll help Matei take control more and keep things in order."

"Don't worry, Nia," Gerwyn ressured her, trying to ruffle her hair, but the young wild-blood just jumped away in shock, as if electrocuted.

Ceri and Gerwyn shared a worried look.

"I still think we ought to address the elephant in the room though," Ceri continued.

Nia looked around the room, "What is elephant? I don't see anything that might be elephant. Oh, ok, later, ok."

Jana smiled, "It's just a human make-like."

Nia nodded, "You mean what I did. Last night."

Gerwyn nodded, "Your father."

Nia stared at the ground.

"You met your father last night?" Jana asked in shock, "How did you...?"

"She didn't just meet him last night," Ceri started glumly.

Jana frowned, "What happened?"

"I, I..." Nia began in fear, "You'll hate me if I tell you."

"No," Jana reassured her, "No, I won't. Whatever you've done, I'm sure you have good reason."

"I killed him, Jana," Nia told her, "I killed him. What reason could ever justify that?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Meinir!" Matei yelled as he spotted the wild-blood- turned -human sitting in one of the booths, Dr Whitewood, Imara and TJ sitting with her. He thought they would have gone straight upstairs. Maybe they were expecting Jana and Ceri to be able to managed. Or maybe they thought Nia needed to see familiar faces, familiar _nice_ faces. If Nia thought he was weird then he dreaded to think what she would make of TJ and Meinir.

"Hi," the older girl replied, "Great coffee. Have you heard much from Emilia?"

Matei shook his head sadly, "No, she's only been able to get signal once. She said she was saving the battery to call me. It's probably run out by now."

Meinir took Matei's hand reassuringly, "She's strong. She'll be fine, Carriad."

"How's Jana?" TJ asked, "How's she dealing with all of this?"

Matei sighed, "She's doing ok. But I wouldn't like to be in her shoes right now. Nia needs help, something's happened to her. I overheard what you said. If she did kill her father, then... There's got to be a reason. If Jana trust her, then, well, I trust Jana. Jana knows what she's doing. So there's got to be a good reason for Nia to do something like that."

"Nia's family situation has always been messed up," Meinir said, as Aran appeared, having finished speaking to Katrina.

Aran nodded, "Her mother didn't love her. Asked for the elder's permission to abandon her."

"Good old Arianne got it refused though," Meinir said with a nostalgic grin, "And threatened to impale anyone who suggested such a thing again."

TJ shuddered, "That explains so much about Jana."

"Arianne wanted to perform an adoption rite," Meinir replied, "But Alric didn't agree to it, because Nia is older than Jana. I know Nia would never have threatened Jana's position, she would never have taken away that title from her friend but it couldn't be allowed. Arianne still tried to be a mother to her, still tried to be a mother to all of us. Even when we didn't really deserve it."

Matei frowned.

"I bullied Jana," Meinir continued sadly, "I was a total bitch to her. No one expected her to live for more than a few days. She was so sickly. Arianne miscarried five times before having Jana. I was told I was going to be the heir and then right after that. They didn't mean to, but they couldn't help it, they drank too much at the Equinox sabbat and then Jana was born."

TJ grinned, earning a disapproving look from Imara, who knew he was going to make some kind of comment to Jana about that later on.

"I bullied Nia even worse," Meinir added, "Because she was half-human. The pack considered it unnatural. She was the lowest ranking cub- lower than an epsilon, the lowest rank of all. I didn't know that she was already hearing it all from her Mama. I just made things worse."

Aran ruffled his sister's hair, "You were twelve, you didn't know."

"I was old enough to know better," Meinir answered, "I'll try to make amends in any way that I can."

"Does Jana have any plans for where Nia will stay?" Dr Whitewood asked.

Aran sighed, "I don't think she's asked Ceri to take her in. In my opinion she should stay with her aunt and uncle."

"And they are her real aunt and uncle?" Imara asked, "I know the pack uses the terms very loosely. It's just if social services get involved. They'll be happier to let her stay with her family if possible."

"Her real aunt and uncle," Aran confirmed, "Her mother was Gerwyn's sister. The acorn seemed to fall very far from the tree there."

"Not really," Meinir said, "She was a great laugh, before Nia was born, you were just too young to remember."

"PND?" Imara asked.

"Maybe," Dr Whitewood said, "It would make sense. But it's not like humans just live alongside wild-wolfbloods, at least not usually, and not in the wild. I think there's more to this. I'll ask Ceri later. She might well be the only one who knows anything."

Imara nodded.

"So she'll be staying at her aunt's house?" Matei asked.

"No," Aran asked, "I think Jana plans to keep her at the flat."

"What?!" TJ yelled, "She can't. If the police are..."

"I got them to cancel the search," Imara said, "I have some friends, they've decided to keep their fangs hidden so to speak, they've created a history for her. I talked to the Vaughans and Mr Jeffries. The story is that she's an immensely troubled girl, who was home schooled and lived with Vaughans."

"But someone in Stoneybridge will say something," Meinir replied, "It's a small town. Everyone knows everyone."

"Porphyria," Matei said, "It was my idea. Causes extreme sensitivity to sunlight. Can't go out during the day."

"And when people see her out during the day?" TJ asked.

"Misdiagnosed porphyria," Dr Whitewood added, "There are plenty of illness that cause sensitivity to sunlight. Depression would also cause someone to avoid contact with others. We'll think of something if we need to."

"If Jana wants her to stay at the flat," Meinir said, "Then she should. The only person she really trusts is Jana."

"What about Katrina?" Matei said, "Do you think she will be able to handle it?"

"I'm fine with it," Katrina said, joining them. Matei noticed that Kay had arrived and was covering for her and Jana.

"Really?" Matei asked.

"Well she can't stay in the den," Katrina said, "Not with the rennovations going on. And she's hardly going to travel in a car all the way to Stoneybridge without escaping at a traffic light and getting run over or something like that. Besides I think she needs to be around only girls at the moment."

Imara frowned, "What makes you say that?"

"She tried to kill Matei," Katrina said, "A guy tried to chat her up in here earlier and she almost smashed his head in. I let it go because the guy was being a perv and he kind of deserved it. Then Jana just came down to give me an update and she seemed upset because Nia was afraid of her uncle. I think this is giving me an idea of what might have happened, and I think we ought to be careful. If this was Jana, I'd expect her to keep it all inside and have nightmares forever, but Nia's no Jana, she might do anything if she feels overwhelmed."

Matei nodded, he should have thought of that. He should have considered something like that. He didn't want to think that way but maybe this had something to do with her murdering her father. Maybe it was actually self-defense.

"If only we still have Carter hall," Imara said.

"I don't think Carrie is the right kind of person for Nia to be hanging around with," TJ said.

"I meant the staff," Imara clarified, "We had staff trained in counselling."

"And not one of them could have been spared for Jana?" Katrina asked bitterly.

"Jana's stubborn," Imara replied, "And the wild pack don't discuss their mental health, it's still a difficult subject."

"We describe things in terms of weak and strong," Aran explained, "Pneumonias, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, they are terms that are alien to us. It's easier to call someone crazy or weak minded than to really get into their problems. The wild pack is about survival, you have to be strong in every possible way. You saw what happened to Meinir because of her becoming human. Meinir was one of the strongest wild-bloods in our pack, but nature is cruel and doesn't let you take a break."

Katrina nodded, "I get it. But in the human world the rules are different. In the human world Jana and Nia will get help."

"Definitely," Dr Whitewood agreed, "I have friends who would be more than willing to help. I mean, they are fascinated by wolfbloods, but they have a strong sense of morality."

Imara nodded, "We'll get them here as soon as we can. I think we should go and speak to Jana now. See what her plan is. If I had to deal with this when I was seventeen I don't think I'd be able to cope."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

"I do not understand human colour schemes," Nia said, sniffing at the tunisian sandcastle paint on the walls, "But I'm very sure this isn't normal, even by human standards."

Jana laughed, "No, it isn't."

Nia sniffed at some of the pictures hanging on the walls, "These smell familiar. But also not."

"Rhydian," Jana explained, "He drew the photos, Maddy, his enaid cymar alffa, she framed them."

Nia moved to sit on the edge of the bed and was surprised by how soft it was and how well it held her weight. She had expected it to be as solid as wood.

"And this Maddy," Nia began, "You don't hate her? Even though she stole your intended."

Jana shook her head, "Matei is my enaid cymar alffa, not Rhydian. Rhydian deserves someone who can be devoted to him., and Maddy is. I can't hate anyone who loves Rhydian so much."

"And is Maddy also with child?" Nia asked.

Jana gave her a shocked look, "It's not really something that you can just ask about, not in the human world. It's not like in the pack where everyone knows. I hope for Rhydian's sake he isn't."

"Why not?" Nia asked, "Or are they not married too?"

"They're engaged," Jana replied, "But not married, no. And Maddy's parents are scary. Not in a horrible way, it's just if Rhydian got Maddy with child, they wouldn't be happy about it."

Nia shook her head in confusion, "That makes no sense at all."

"Don't worry," Jana reassured her, "You'll get used to it."

A knock at the door interrupted them. Katrina smiled warmly.

"Good punch earlier," Katrina said to Nia.

"Thanks," Nia answered, "I was worrying that I was getting weaker. I need to protect Jana."

"We all protect Jana," Katrina answered, "You don't have to worry about that. Jana, Imara and Dr Whitewood are just chatting with Ceri and Gerwyn, they said they wanted to speak to you."

"If it's about what happened last night," Jana began, "I know. Nia's told me everything and..."

"What happened last night?" Katrina asked.

"I swore to keep it a secret," Jana explained, "Until Nia is ready, it's going to stay that way."

"But they want to help her," Katrina protested.

"I know," Jana said with a sigh, "But Nia's not ready for other people to find out just yet. And she knows about you know what as well."

"She didn't threaten to tell Matei if...?" Katrina asked, horrified at the idea.

Jana nodded, "Not maliciously. She's just scared. Need something to protect her. It's a big thing, Katrina, what's going on. I can't afford to screw this up."

Katrina nodded, "Matei's downstairs. We think she's... Not keen on being around guys at the moment."

Jana sighed, "You're right. I'll see him in a minute."

"You aren't leaving me are you?" Nia asked in a panicked voice.

"I need to speak to the others," Jana replied apologetically.

"But you promise not to tell them anything!" Nia exploded, "I thought I could trust you."

"Nia!" Katrina yelled, "Jana isn't going to tell them anything about what happened to you. Not unless you want her to. She just needs to talk to Matei."

Nia grimaced, "I hate having to share you with him."

"Let me look after her," Katrina told Jana, "You go and take a break."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

Matei watched as Jana walked unsteadily down the stairs, and raced towards her. He knew what was happening, she had to be strong for Nia and for the pack. But there was only so long she could keep up the act.

He hugged her tightly as she sobbed and lead her outside, behind the Kafe near the quayside.

"I can't do this Matei!" Jana sobbed, "First the secret being revealed, then the Organisation going on some witch hunt against me, thinking I'm Gengis Khan reborn. Now this, Nia needs me more than ever and I just can't be there for her. Not fully. I feel so useless."

Matei kissed Jana's hair, "Don't ever say that. You're doing everything so well. Especially considering..."

"Considering what?" Jana asked, rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper.

"You're a crap actress, Jana," Matei said with a grin, placing a hand over Jana's stomach, "You're even worse at lying to me."

Jana looked up at him with frightened eyes.

"You'll be a great mother," Matei reassured her, "I knew Katrina knew before I did. She explained about why you were afraid to tell me."

"I don't want to break your heart," Jana sobbed.

"This isn't the wild, Jana," Matei answered, "There's more doctors here, more medicines, it won't be like that for us."

Jana hugged Matei tightly, "Is this any kind of world to bring a child into?"

Matei stroked Jana's hair, "Just because things are hard now doesn't mean they'll always be. We'll figure this out Jana, you and me together."

Jana took Matei's hand, "Together."


	7. Chapter 7

"Rhydian!" Maddy yelled as she raced into the room, holding a stack of T-shirts in her hand, "Mam found them! She found the flexitickets Segolia gave us, and they haven't expired."

Rhydian grinned and kissed Maddy exuberantly, "Only eight hours and we'll be in Newcastle. Well, give or take the taxi ride. I guess if we want to get there quicker we could also ask my Dad for a ride."

"Nothing is making me rely on your father's driving," Maddy replied adamantly, "We'll be there in good time."

Rhydian sighed, "I don't think you understand how grave this all is, Mads. I mean Jana's facing off against the Organisation whilst trying to hide an unstable wolfblood from them."

Maddy hugged him comfortingly, "I know.. It's a conversation my Mam's already had with us. I feel sorry for Jana, when my parents visit us for Christmas she's going to get an earful of it."

"I hope they'll go easy on her," Rhydian said, "I didn't think I should tell you this but, well, it wasn't like Jana woke up one day and decided 'hey, let's tell the world.' It wasn't even the video that made her tell."

Maddy frowned, "Then what was it?"

"They tried to take her wolf away, Maddy," Rhydian explained in pained tone, "She was forced to sacrifice herself to protect her pack. I should have been there to do that. She's my little sister..."

"Don't ever say that, Rhydian," Maddy said, eyes flashing yellow, "I don't care who you're trying to protect, never put yourself in danger like that, promise."

"I'm sorry, Mads," Rhydian answered, "I can't be making that kind of promise now. Not whilst the serums are still out there. The organisation could still use them against us, make us human. If I have to give up my wolf to protect you or to protect Jana, or to protect our pack, then I will."

Maddy blinked away tears, "Do you think we're making the right choice? Moving back. Everything feels safer here."

"I know," Rhydian answered, "But safety's only an illusion here. The Organisation is only a mouse click away from finding our file and then they'll be here, asking their questions. Better we aren't caught out like that. If we join with Jana, the ball will be back in our court, we'll have more control. Be a united front against anyone who wants to hurt us. And we'll get to go home, I know you want that more than anything."

Maddy nodded, her head resting against Rhydian's chest, "Home. I want that. Your parents are still living at the cottage, aren't they?"

Rhydian nodded, "We'll visit them. Jana offered for us to stay at her den for the first few nights. Or rather she told me I should, you can stay at the flat. Or I can stay with Matei, his foster parents said they're ok with that."

"Matei?" Maddy asked, "Jana's.…"

"Should give him some time to bond with his future brother-in-law," Rhydian said with a laugh, "I'm sure he's a nice guy but..."

"I get it," Maddy answered, "Jana's like a sister to you, you completed that adoption ritual when she was dying, so she basically is your sister. You feel obliged to think that no guy in the world will ever be good enough for her."

Rhydian nodded, "I've seen videos of them together, on Facebook. He cares about her but..."

"But what?" Maddy asked in confusion.

"Well Jana used to have a crush on me," Rhydian answered, "Matei's like the opposite of me, so quiet and bookish."

"Jana used to be in love with flushing toilets and hate the Ks," Maddy added, "People change Rhydian. Jana was fifteen then. She's an alpha now, she knows her own mind and she'll follow it."

"Well when has Jana not been headstrong?" Rhydian asked, picking up his passport and looking at it, "I remember helping Jana sort out her passport for Norway. She had no clue what it was for."

Maddy smiled, "She's a tame now. I couldn't have imagined that would happen."

Rhydian nodded, "I know. She still has a lot to learn, and if Nia's going to stay then we have a lot of work to do."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

Matei still had his arm around Jana's shoulders as they walked back up to the flat. She had stopped crying but her eyes were still red. Matei didn't think Nia would be too scared of him. After everything had calmed down, she seemed to be ok with him being in the flat, so long as he didn't ask anything too personal. He knew the girls wouldn't like the idea, but he wanted to be near Jana now. He felt like he could finally accept his new responsibility, and he had every intention of being one of those over-protective fathers right from the word go. After all, they were the only kinds of fathers that he and Jana had ever know.

"Nia!" Jana yelled, "What have you done?!"

The blonde haired wild-blood gave her wide grin. The coffee table had been cleared off and pushed so that it was touching the sofa, pillows were covering every inch of the sofa and there were several blankets and duvets piled on it too. On a small table was a bottle of water and selection of fresh fruit and chocolates.

"It is important that you rest," Nia commanded, "Katrina told me that Matei was going to tell you, so. Well, now the appropriate preparations can be made. Sit!"

Jana gave Matei a flustered look, but didn't disobey Nia.

Matei grabbed one of the blankets and began to tuck it around Jana's small form.

"Oh, come on!" Jana said with an eye roll, "I'm fine, Matei. I'm only twelve weeks along."

"But you have been more tired recently," Matei noted, "It won't hurt you to rest."

"Yeah," Nia agreed, "It's ok. I'll just be watching Game of Thrones."

Jana gave Katrina a questioning look.

"She wanted to know if there were any wolfbloods that she could see on the TV," Katrina explained, "All I could think of were the Starks."

Matei smiled, "Martin probably did write them as wolfbloods. I have this theory that all of the First Men were wolfbloods. I mean Bran 'warging' into Summer. That's not just accidental, is it?"

Jana sighed, "That nap sounds good right now. It might be the only way to stop you going on about G.O.T. Nia, are you ok with Matei being here?"

Nia gave Matei a thorough look, before grabbing a bar of chocolate from the table and regarding it curiously, "Of course, he is your enaid cymar alffa. He has been claimed."

Matei smiled, "Well that's one way to put it."

Matei moved so that he was lying down next to Jana, her head resting on his chest, the blankets pulled around both of them. Jana yawned loudly and looked up at him with a smile.

"I love you, you know," Jana sighed.

"Of course I do," Matei answered, placing a hand on Jana's stomach, "We'll be a happy family now. You, me, Emilia, bubba and the pack."

"Bubba?" Jana asked with a grin.

"Well we don't know if it's a boy or girl yet do we?" Matei asked.

Nia gave Matei a grin, "That's only because you're a tame. If you were a wild blood you'd already know."

Jana smiled, "I have a vague idea. Nia's more wild than me now, so she was able to confirm that I was correct."

"Jana," Katrina began, "You have to tell us."

"Well," Jana began, "If you insist, it's a …"


	8. Chapter 8

Gerwyn was grinning like a psychotic Cheshire cat all the way from the airport until they were only a mile or so away from the flat. He couldn't believe it. He always thought Rhydian would be the crazy one. He couldn't wait to tell them the good news.

Rhydian kept on staring at him with a confused look, but was mostly fussing over Maddy. It reminded Gerwyn of him and Ceri, how, despite not always being the best wolfblood husband, whenever he was around he tried to be as dedicated to her as possible. He worried sometimes that Rhydian was too obsessed with his girls- he couldn't blame Rhydian for being over-protective of Maddy, but he knew Rhydian needed to back off when it came to Jana. Jana wasn't just some fragile little flower, not only that but she had Matei to protect her now. He'd seen Jana spar with Meinir before, and even at three years old Jana could punch hard.

"Ok, Dad,"Rhydian said suddenly, "What's going on?"

"I can't tell you," Gerwyn said grinning and excited, "I promised not to say anything."

Rhydian smiled, "Ok. Whatever it is. I guess you'll just have to keep it a secret."

"I just can't believe it," Gerwyn stated.

Maddy frowned, "Can't believe what?"

"No, no," Gerwyn answered worridly, "I can't say anything. I promised."

"Had something happened?" Maddy asked.

"You besides from my crazy cousin turning up and murdering her father?" Rhydian asked, "Well it's not something I'd be happy about, so I'm guessing something else is going on. She's getting married, isn't she? I thought she would have at least texted to let me know."

"Oh, no," Gerwyn answered, "No, Matei and Jana aren't getting married, although come to think of it..."

Rhydian sighed, shaking his head, "I'll murder him. She's seventeen."

"Your mum was fifteen," Gerwyn replied.

"Different culture," Rhydian replied, "Different time as well. Fifteen was normal back then, even for humans. Today things are different, girls don't have babies when they're basically still children."

Maddy rolled her eyes, "It's not that big of a deal. Besides I think they'll make great parents."

"They don't have a house, a car," Rhydian replied, "He doesn't even have his GCSE certificates yet."

"He's going to be a doctor," Maddy answered, "Give it a few years and they'll be living in one of those huge houses on the Coledwar Lane in Stonybridge, you know with the massive gardens and six bedrooms."

"Give it a few years and all of those bedrooms will probably be filled," Rhydian replied cynically.

"It's not really Jana's fault," Gerwyn said, "It was an accident."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?" Rhydian asked, "What do you mean accident? You mean like you and Mum?"

Gerwyn shook his head, "No. Well not really. Apparently Jana has been a bit stressed. A little forgetful."

"Has Matei been a bit forgetful too?" Rhydian answered angrily, "Because it's not all Jana's responsibility you know."

"Rhydian!" Maddy yelled at him, "Will you just stop! It's Jana's choice, I think they're going to be great parents, and it's none of your business who or how often she sleeps with someone!"

Rhydian sighed, "She's my sister."

"Exactly," Gerwyn answered, "Some concern is normal, but there's no way I'm letting this go all Danerys and Viserys. You choose Maddy, Jana's your sister. Just your sister. She needs to have a life of her own and do things you're not always going to like. That doesn't make you a shit brother."

Rhydian sighed, "I know, it's just... I feel like I've let her down a lot. Especially with all of this going on."

Maddy placed a hand on his, "So we'll do a couple of interviews with the Organisation. Take the weight off of Jana. Buy some baby clothes. Do all of the normal things an aunt and uncle would do."

"And in the mean time, if you want something to worry about," Gerwyn added, "Then worry about Nia. She'll need help settling in here, I don't know how long she's staying, but my money's on a good few months, that's how long it will take us to sort out this mess."

"What even happened?" Maddy asked, "I know Ceri said that Nia killed her father. I thought she was exiled from the wild pack."

"Yeah, for being half-human," Rhydian said, "Things were really different back then. I'm glad Alric is a bit more reasonable now."

Gerwyn shook his head, "Is that what your Mum told you? I guessed she wouldn't tell you the whole truth."

Rhydian frowned.

"Yes, Alric wasn't comfortable having a half-human cub in the wild pack," Gerwyn continued, "But no one could blame, Alis, your aunt. We were all very sorry for her, a human coming onto our territory like, that and doing what he did... I tried to help her, but she was too stubborn. I think everything would have been ok, had she not gotten pregnant. She changed then, she became so so dark. She hated Nia, I know how bad that sounds, but I know she really hated her. Because every time she saw Nia, she saw that man. I tried to help them both but I guess sometimes you just can't help your sister.

"Anyway, you won't remember this Rhydian. Not because you were too young, but because it happened on the day that the humans took you from us. Well, naturally we were all distraught, and we all went looking for you. The wild pack really cared about you, it's not true, that old thing about beta wolves. Arianne would have killed anyone who refused to look for you. Nia came up with the idea and convinced Jana to go to the human world with her. I don't know what happened but..."

"But?" Rhydian asked, "Jana ended up in danger I guess."

Gerwyn nodded, "Not only that, but, Arianne..."

"No," Rhydian said in shock, "I never thought..."

"Arianne?" Maddy asked, "Jana's mother. She died when Jana was really little, didn't she? You don't mean to say, it was Nia's fault."

"Nia was little more than a baby," Gerwyn said, eyes blurred with tears, "She couldn't have understood. It was stupid, the elders exiling her and Alais. Nia wasn't to blame. If anything it was an insult to Arianne's memory, she loved that little girl. If they wanted to make things right, if they wanted to repair things, they should have made Nia Jana's sister, properly. That's what Arianne always wanted."

"Is it too late now?" Maddy asked, "Is it like in the human world? Where you can adopt anyone under eighteen."

Gerwyn nodded, "It is too late now. The age of majority in the wild pack is sixteen. But they can still be sisters, of course, just not officially."

Rhydian seemed to be shell shocked, "So Arianne was killed by humans?"

"A drunk driver," Gerwyn answered, "It was her or Jana. If she hadn't pushed her out of the way..."

Rhydian looked startled, "It wasn't Nia's fault. It was mine, I shouldn't have run off. Shouldn't have gone with the humans. Nia's suffered so much because of me."

"No, Rhydian," Gerwyn answered, "What happened, with you being taken to the human world, it would have happened to someone's cub eventually. Now that the world knows about us, things like that should stop happening, once they understand our ways better. Nia suffered because of her father, if he hadn't done what he did, Alais would have married her enaid cymar alffa, Nia would have had a loving family and siblings- Alais always wanted a large family. None of this would have happened. Nia would have been happy. But it's too late to change all of that now, we can only deal with the present, and make a better future.

"Otherwise Arianne's ghost will come back from the other side to yell at us forever. And if you thought Jana could go on sometimes, well..."

Rhydian smiled, "I hope she has her own little Arianne."

Gerwyn smiled, "You're only saying that because you had no idea what Jana's mother was like. If she does, then we'll be in for a whole lot of fun."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK  
Jana was still asleep when the doorbell rang. Matei wanted to get up to answer it, but it was useless, Jana's head was still resting on his chest and her arm was drapped around him, her curls tickled his chin and the blankets were wrapped tightly around him. He was imprisoned in the best possible way.

Instead Nia got up to answer it and after a little guidance from Katrina, who had gone to the kitchen to make some snacks- microwavable popcorn chicken and sausage rolls, naturally, Nia managed to open it.

Nia froze as she saw her cousin.

"Rhydian?" Nia asked in a young and scared voice. She looked so confused and concerned and not really sure what to do.

Matei knew that wild pack wasn't very big, despite it's members marrying into other packs every now and then. He knew that there were roughly fifty members and that everyone was at least a person's second cousin once removed or something like that. He realise with a slight queasiness that Emilia was probably an asset to the wild pack, along with Cadwr and Gwyn of course, because she added in some new genes. She was thirteen too, although only just, he hoped that Alric wouldn't be making plans for her just yet. He hoped Aran knew enough about the human world to know that Matei wouldn't be happy if his sister was married off.

Matei concluded that Nia was likely to be Rhydian's only cousin and wondered how he would react if he met his Romanian cousins. He'd only ever heard from them a few times and they were so different from him. They were into motorbikes and nightclubbing, and they were Meinir's age so they weren't really on the same level as him.

He guessed it would probably be as awkward as it was for Nia and Rhydian right then.

Rhydian smiled, "Is it ok if I come in? I know you aren't happy about..."

"You're my cousin," Nia said in confusion, "It's different. Of course you can come in. The rules don't apply to you."

Rhydian frowned. Matei knew that Nia wanted to keep things a secret but with the way that she spoke it was becoming pretty obvious what had happened to her. He hoped it was just her way of opening up to them, learning to trust them.

Rhydian seemed to be quite unsettled though as he started to come to the realisation of what must have happened to Nia and it looked like he was using all of his self-restraint to hide his wolfblood veins and to avoid wolfing out.

"Rhydian!" Katrina yelled, "I didn't know you were visiting. And Maddy too! Oh my god, I've missed you so much."

Maddy and Rhydian shared a confused look.

"How's Canada?" Katrina asked, "I mean Jana always tells me about all the fun you're having, but you must have so much to tell. It must be such a great place for wolfbloods."

"It is," Rhydian began as he moved towards the sleeping Jana, "You'll have to visit at some time. Montreal's got a great shopping scene and Jana would love the wilderness. Shannon was over at ours only a few weeks ago with Tom. But..."

"Rhydian, remember it's supposed to be a surprise," Maddy reminded him.

Katrina smiled, "Not you too?"

Maddy shook her head, "No, I'm not. It's something else. We want it to be a surprise for Jana."

Katrina smiled, "Ok. But you know she hates surprises, right?"

"Of course," Rhydian answered, "But I think she'll like this one."

"-Ydian," Jana mumbled as she began to wake up, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and brushed her curls behind her ears, "Wait? What are you doing here?"

Rhydian smiled, ruffling his sister's hair, "When I heard about Nia. I knew I had to come over here immediately. To help you... And Matei."

Matei smiled, "I guess you've probably also heard about..."

Rhydian nodded, "My Dad told me."

"Great!" Jana complained, "It was supposed to be a surprise."

Tj burst into the flat, Selina following him, "They ran out of the usual ones so I had to get the most expensive ones. Seems like bubba's starting off on the right paw... Oh, wait, you're Rhydian? And Maddy? I thought you were supposed to be in Canada?"

"Don't mind him," Selina apologised, "He's always a bit... Well, you know... I'm Selina, that's TJ.… It's nice to meet you."

Maddy smiled, "Nice to meet you too."

Nia started growling at TJ.

Jana looked up at her friend, "You need to go downstairs, remember."

"But she's ok with Rhydian and Matei," TJ argued.

"Rules are rules," Jana replied.

"Nia, it's going to be ok," Rhydian tried to reassure his cousin, but Nia still looked pale.

"I didn't want Jana to send him away," Nia confessed, "But for now I have to. I'm not ready yet. Not ready to be honest yet."

"I know," Rhydian said, sitting down next to her. If she were Jana, he'd hug her, and ruffle her hair, but they didn't have that kind of familiarity, "You don't have to say anything. Not unless you want to."

"Later," Nia said, "I might say something later, if I can."

"You don't have to push yourself too far, Nia," Jana said, "You're under no obligations."

Nia smiled, "I know, but I have my family here. I feel a bit safer now. I'm protected more. Maybe even loved."

Rhydian looked shocked at that admission, "Of course you're loved here. Jana and I, we're your family. And my parents too. We all love you."

"I know," Nia said, "It's just been hard. Letting myself believe that. For so long, I've been told that no one could possibly ever love me."

"Because you're half human?" Maddy asked.

Nia nodded, "And because everyone blames me for Arianne's death. I blamed myself even. Jana said she forgives me."

Jana smiled, "Of course I do. We were babies. It was my decision, my own decision to go the human world too. I don't think we could have done anything to prevent it happening."

Rhydian could tell that Nia still felt guilty about it. He tentatively held her hand. She looked at him with tear stained eyes.

"I want to stay here," Nia said, "In the human world. The wild one has never been kind to me."

Jana nodded, "Of course, you're already a part of the pack."

"Thank you, my alpha," Nia said with tears stained eyes.

"So when is this party starting?" a familiar voice asked, making Nia jump and move so that she was almost touching Rhydian.

"Meinir, is Aran still downstairs?" Jana asked, "I'll send down some party food for him and TJ."

"Don't worry, alpha," Meinir answered, "TJ is teaching Aran Candy Crush, and Imara and Dr Whitewood are still making plans, sorting things out with the police. An interview will be inevitable, but hopefully they'll be able to carry it out here. Nia?"

The young girl looked afraid.

Meinir sighed, "I'm sorry, for all those things I said when you were a cub. I was stupid. Karma got me back fair and square."

Nia looked up confused, sniffing the air, "You're a..."

Meinir nodded, "A human. The serum, they have this serum, it turns wolfbloods human. The mad man Kincaid, he used it against me. Dr Whitewood tried to fix it, but she hasn't found a solution yet. I've accepted that I'm human now. It certainly makes me feel less guilty about liking coffee."

Jana rolled her eyes.

Nia started crying, "Oh, Meinir. I feel so sorry for you."

"It's ok, kiddo," Meinir said, "You're back in the pack now, we'll figure things out together."

Nia smiled.

"So is this party starting or not?" Meinir asked.

Jana grinned, "Just ordering the KFC now."

"Good, good," Meinir said.

"KFC?" Nia asked Rhydian.

"Chicken," Rhydian explained, "You'll like it. It's like a spicy pheasant."

Nia frowned at him adorably, then shrugged.

"So I..er..." Matei began.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you for knocking up my sister," Rhydian said.

Matei smiled, "I was worried you would."

"Just make sure you treat her right," Rhydian said, "And the baby."

"Of course I will," Matei promised.

"That reminds me," Jana said, pulling out a silver plastic bag from where it was stored behind the cushions, "It's the best I could do at short notice, asides from getting TJ to buy some balloons. Got on open it!"

Rhydian opened the bag, Katrina, Nia and Matei grinned. They already knew.

Inside was a plain cardboard box, that felt heavy and rattled slightly when Rhydian shook it.

Carefully he remove the cellotape and opened it.

Confetti flew out everywhere.

Inside sat a teddy bear.

A bright pink teddy bear.


	9. Chapter 9

**14 years ago**

Jana chased Nia through the forest, always making sure to not be more than a few metres away from her. The forest was dense here but Jana knew enough about the woods to know that it would start to thin out soon and then there would be the human world.

She was excited but also extremely nervous. She could tell that Nia wasn't at all scared, however. I was as if Rhydian disappearing had given Nia the adventure of a lifetime. Jana worried that her friend might be tame at heart. She couldn't bare the idea of losing her too.

Nia turned back grinning and grabbed Jana's hand, before they both ran at wolfblood speed. Jana hoped Rhydian was ok, and that he wasn't scared. She hoped the adults found him quickly, then everything would be ok. Because if Rhydian was gone forever.…

She would be broken.

He had always been there for her. He was six months older than her and had been the one who looked after her, teach her how to climb the biggest trees, been a co-conspirator when in came to playing tricks on Aran, taught her how to talk and charm her way out of getting disciplined...

She didn't know how she'd be able to live without him. He was her enaid cymar alffa, also, or so she'd been told, apparently she'd know that feeling when she older, cubs couldn't tell who their enaid cymar alffa was.

The woods began to thin and Jana could hear a whooshing sound coming from somewhere in front of her. She gave Nia a worried look but the girl just shrugged nonchalantly, moving towards the whoosing sound. Jana didn't want to be there any more, she just wanted to back at camp, with her Mama and Papa, waiting safely for Rhydian to return. She didn't feel safe here.

"Nia, I want to go home," Jana said.

"We have to find Rhydian," Nia replied adamantly.

"Can't we just let Aran and Meinir find him?" Jana asked, with a yawn.

Nia shook her, "You know what they're like. You know what Meinir is like. Imagine what they'd do to him, once they found him. No, we have to find him Jana, we have to."

Jana bit her lip, "I just have a bad feeling about this. But, I guess, ok. But any danger and we come straight home."

Nia nodded, "Ok, and yes, if it's too dangerous then we'll leave it to the adults."

Jana breathed a sigh of relief, but only just a little one, because she knew that Nia had no real sense of danger, not in the way she did. Nia didn't have too much of an appreciation of risk. Maybe she needed that right now, Jana thought, there was no time to be silly scared little cub.

She had to rescue Rhydian.

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

"What do you mean they're gone?!" Arianne yelled distraughtly before bursting into the tent. She saw a pile of blankets on the floor, right where she'd left her daughter sleeping. It had been a good few hours now, and when Arianne had returend she'd expected to find her daughter playing, or running around camp, or teasing Aran. But worryingly, she couldn't find Jana's or Nia's scent as strongly as she found everyone else's.

They must have left camp.

"How could you have just let them leave?!" Arianne continued, yelling at a small group of wolfbloods, who had been left behind to look after Jana and Nia.

The other wolfbloods mumbled.

"I know I should have left Meinir with them," Arianne concluded, "At least, she would have kept them here. Even if she had to tie them down to the tent floor!"

"My alpha," a young girl said, tearing through the group and bowing low before Arianne, "I heard you mention my name. I'm sorry if I have wronged you."

"Not you, dear," Arianne reassured her, "Nia and Jana have gone missing."

Meinir looked up at her alpha with horrified eyes, "Not the humans, they didn't surely come into our camp!"

"Alric is out looking for a clue," Arianne said, "It's more than likely they ran off trying to find Rhydian. I can't even be mad at them, if I was Jana I would have done the same."

Arianne looked up just as Aran and Alric came racing back towards the camp.

"We have a scent," Alric said, "And we found this. In north-east direction about a league or so from the camp."

Alric held out one of Jana's hair ribbons- it was thin and black and covered in a fair bit of mud, but Arianne took it gladly, tieing it around her wrist.

"Let's go," Arianne commanded, "And if any more cubs go missing, Gods help whoever is responsible."

"Arianne, my alpha," Alais said, "I believe Nia was behind this, she has the evil eye after all."

Gerwyn gave his sister a disbelieving look, "Ceri is besides herself with worry about Rhydian, she wishes she could help but she's in no good way to. I will go instead. Find out the truth in a way that doesn't involve beating young children with sticks."

Alais shrugged, "Nia needs it."

There was a murmur of disapproval amongst the pack members. Sure a slap here or there was unusual but not frowned upon, not that Arianne would ever discipline Jana or Nia like that, and Ceri and Gerwyn didn't really discipline Rhydian per say, not when the young boy could just give them a grin and they'd have to start smiling too. But beating a child, and being so casual about it... There was something immensely wrong with that.

Gerwyn shook his head at his sister before moving to stand next to Arianne. He hugged her, sensing that she need a friend's support. It wasn't the done thing, hugging your alpha in front of the whole pack, but he couldn't care less right now.

Alric nodded to the group before Arianne, Meinir, Aran and Gerwyn followed himm out of the camp.

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

"What are those?" Jana asked in wonder as she watched the little brightly coloured beetles zoom past, "I've never seen anything so fast. They're amazing."

Nia and Jana were standing on the grass verge, the woodland just behind them. A wooden post towered above them but they couldn't read the writing on it. They assumed, correctly, that it must be a sign to tell humans how to get into the woods.

"Look at that!" Nia yelled, pointing at another sign post, "It looks so funny! What is it? Some man with some triangle thing."

Jana squinted trying to see it better, "It looks like some man trying put up a really weird looking tent."

"And look over there!" Nia pointed at several orange and silver cones, "It's all so strange!"

Jana nodded, "It looks like the beetles are trying to play some kind of game, weaving in and out of those yellow barrier thingies and what on earth is that machine thing?"

Nia shrugged, looking over at a small digger, "I think it's a wolfblood with a really bad disease, I'll ask my auntie when we get back."

Jana sniffed the air, "Uh-oh."

She turned around to see her Uncle Gerwyn, and instantly felt guilty. He should have been looking for Rhydian, not following them.

"I wouldn't want to be walking in your paws when we get back," he said gravely.

Nia burst out crying in fear, "Please, you have to save me, please!"

Gerwyn picked up his crying niece, "It will be Alric who deals with this, not your Mama."

"Thank the Gods!" Nia yelled, before sobbing again.

Gerwyn shook his head. The next few days were going to be hell. But he knew what needed to be done. Alais was no fit mother. He would go to the elders, he would ask to adopt Nia. Gods, he was already looking after her enough of the time. She needed good parents, and someone who actually loved her. Alais had been in the camp all day, but not once had she noticed that her daughter had gone missing.

Jana stared guiltily at her boots, "We only wanted to find Rhydian. Now I've made everyone angry."

Gerwyn ruffled her hair, "No, they're just worried. We all figured out what you were up to. Arianne will likely never let you out of sight again. Speaking of the red haired devil..."

"JANA!" Arianne yelled, racing towards her daughter, and picking up, kissing her hair and face, "Thank the Gods! Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

"Sorry, Mama," Jana said, crying. She felt so awful.

Arianne hugged her tightly, "What on earth is this place?"

"There's a poorly wolfblood," Nia said pointing to the digger.

"That's not a wolfblood, dear," Arianne said, stroking the young girl's hair, "Come on, lets find the others and head back."

"What about Rhydian?" Jana asked, rubbing the tears out of her eyes.

"We'll look again tomorrow," Gerwyn said, sharing a knowing look with Arianne, they both knew that it was unlikely that they'd find Rhydian now. They just didn't want to admit it yet.

Jana pouted, "But it's still daylight."

Arianne bit her lip, "What do you think?"

Gerwyn sighed, "I would, but Alric said..."

"Stuff Alric," Arianne said, "I'll see what I can do. You take the girls back to camp."

"Mama?" Jana said, confused as Arianne passed her to Gerwyn.

"Go back home with your uncle," Arianne said, "I'll be back home soon, with Rhydian."

Jana smiled, jumping down to hug her mother. She knew her Mama would always do the right thing.

That's when it happened.

The car was travelling too far to stop, but neither Arianne or Jana had noticed.

Jana was standing too close to edge of the curb.

"ARIANNE!" Gerwyn yelled in horror.

He watched it all happen so quickly, the car mounted the pavement just as Arianne puushed her daughter away with all her might. Trying to keep her safe.

But she wasn't able to keep herself safe.

Gerwyn on instinct ran at lightening speed, as the car flipped landing in the ditch below. He knew the man inside it wouldn't have survived that impact.

When the car had finally stopped, he grabbed the cubs who were both screaming and terrified and raced towards Arianne.

She was a mess, both of her legs were broken and there was a nasty cut on her head and a huge deep one cutting across her stomach. They had to move now... Get her back to Ceri as soon as possible.

"Mama!" Jana yelled, but Gerwyn pulled her back, shielding her from seeing her mother like this. This wasn't the kind of thing a cub should see.

"Just look after them," Arianne said, her eyes refusing to focus.

"No," Gerwyn said, "We'll get help."

Alric, Aran and Meinir raced out of the woodland.

"ARIANNE!" Alric yelled, pulling his wife into his arms. She was losing blood at an alarming rate.

She gave him a weak smile, "I want to see Jana."

"No, we'll bring Ceri here," Alric commanded, "Aran-."

"Alric," Gerwyn began, as he saw Arianne grow pale.

"I WILL NOT LET HER DIE!" Alric yelled.

Jana sobbed loudly, screaming, "MAMA! MAMA! MAMA!"

Gerwyn didn't want her to see this, but if this was the last time she ever got to speak to her mother...

Jana walked wobbily over to her parents.

"Mama," Jana said, "Please don't go."

"Fy merch fach hardd," Arianne said, stroking Jana's cheek, "Everything will be ok, fy merch fach hardd."

Jana sobbed, hugging her mother.

Arianne stroked her hair, no longer able to speak.

She looked up at Alric who was trying and failing to hold back tears.

She wished she had a chance to say goodbye to Rhydian and Ceri.

She looked at her daughter again. Please be strong, Jana, she thought, please grow p big and strong, and always be loved, fy merch fach hardd.

Then everything was dark.


	10. Chapter 10

**Present Day**

Jana woke up sobbing, and pressed a hand to her stomach. It had been a good few months since her last dream about her mother, and she suspected she knew the reason why the memories kept flooding back now.

She wished her mother could be there, to help, to guide her. She was so scared, what if whatever had caused her mother to loose her babies happened to her too. This was why she hadn't wanted to tell Matei. But he seemed so sure, so positive, and she wanted to be too. But she just couldn't.

She didn't even mind Nia and Katrina spoiling her and treating her like a little cub, because at least if she were not doing anything then that should make the risk smaller, right? Jana just wanted to sleep and sleep and protect the baby from the stresses of the world until she was old enough to live in it.

Matei was asleep beside her, but woke up when he heard her crying. He was used to Jana having nightmares. She's usually have them about four or five times a weak. Mostly they were about Kincaid, or more recently, Sweeney threatening to take her wolf away. Jana would scream and yell until she was red in the face, but this time she'd been completely silent. She was shaking in his arms, and was pale too. He knew what this dream was about, he could completely understand what it was like to lose a parent.

He hugged Jana tightly, allowing her to cry for as long as she needed to. He worried about her, the stress of the past few days, or even past few weeks couldn't have been good for her.

And her sleep had been off too, she'd been needing so many naps. He guessed it was normal, Ceri hadn't been worried when he mentioned it.

"I feel sick," Jana murmured.

"You'll be ok in a minute," Matei tried to reassure her.

"No, not like that," Jana replied, using her pyjama sleeve to dry her eyes, "Baby sick."

Matei understood, and grabbed a nearby bin, just in time.

He rubbed Jana's back and moved her hair away from her face.

"Thank you," Jana said, yawning.

"Just sleep," Matei told her, rearranging the pillows and pulling the duvet back over her, "I'll be right here."

"Forever?" Jana asked in hopeful tone.

"Yes, fy enaid cymar alffa," Matei answered, kissing her cheek, "Forever."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

Nia sat nervously on the sofa as Rhydian demolished a plate of bacon and maple syrup. Nia might have been able to managed a few slices, even with her stomach doing flips, but the maple syrup... No, no, no. There were rules, clear rules about what was exceptable. Not just her own rules, which were strict enough. No, the pack rules, you didn't put tree sap on meat! It was unholy.

Nia gave Rhydian an intimidating look, "They have really corrupted you haven't they. The humans."

Rhydian grinned, "Come on, you'll like it."

Nia shook her head, "I can't eat sugary stuff. I shouldn't even eat fatty meats. I'm still feeling that pheasant."

"KFC," Rhydian corrected, "I don't see why you shouldn't eat sugary or fatty foods. Not like it's going to hurt you. You could use some weight on your bones."

Nia shook her head, "I'm fine. Besides that kind of food will just make me sick."

Rhydian nodded. He was going to talk to Dr Whitewood about that. Maybe there was a medical reason why Nia didn't like fatty or sugary foods, she'd only picked at the KFC, and even Jana, who was no fan of spicy foods had eaten a good amount. There had to be some reason why Nia was so skinny. Rhydian remembered than Bryn was quite skinny when he last saw him, but there was genetically thin, and then there was Nia thin. He knew something wasn't right there.

Meinir walked past the young wolves and grabbed a slice of bacon from Rhydian's plate.

"Um," Meinir said, "Good. Not nearly as good as the black pudding. I hope Jana doesn't kill me but I did eat all of it. Anything's better than Coco-Pops, even Gerywn's cooking. I need to learn how to cook properly."

Rhydian smiled, "Said the girl who swore she'd never go tame."

"Oh, go bathe in stinging nettles," Meinir replied.

Nia laughed.

"I'm sure it will all be ok," Meinir told her, "When I was ill they just asked Aran a few questions and that was it. I'm sure it will be ok."

Nia still looked afraid,

"They just want to make sure you're healthy," Rhydian explained, "They want you to be well and happy."

Nia stared at the floor, "What tests will they do?"

Rhydian took his cousin's hand, "Nothing scary. I explained about blood tests earlier. That's probably all they'll do. They might take your weight and height."

Meinir nodded, "Yeah. When did you get so tall and scrawny anyway? I've seen more meat on those chicken bones from last night than on you."

Nia growled, "It's none of your business."

Meinir gave Rhydian a worried look, "Jana won't be happy. For her sake you should eat something, she had enough to worry about what with the Organisation and the baby."

Nia snarled at the older girl, "Don't you dare."

Meinir smiled, before turning back to Rhydian, "Well that was telling."

Rhydian sighed, "Just ignore her."

"I thought she was going to be nice to me," Nia said, "She's just like before."

"I think she is trying to be nice, Nia," Rhydian explained, "She's just going in a very Meinir-ish way about it."

Nia nodded, "It's not that I can't eat those foods, I could, but... It's not allowed."

Rhydian frowned, "Your mum? Aunt Alais."

"In the beginning," Nia explained, "But now it's different, now it's me too. I can't get them to go, the thoughts. I wish I could."

Rhydian looked alarmed. He was no expert but he didn't need to be to get a good idea of what was going on.

"Did you sleep well?" Imara asked as she joined them, "Ceri's just making breakfast."

"The sofa was too soft," Nia said, looking at the duvet that still on the floor. She couldn't understand how Jana could sleep on something that didn't support your weight properly.

Imara smiled, "You'll get used to the human world. Now, come on, let's get some food, before the vultures descend."

Nia shook her head, "Not feeling hungry."

"Ok," Imara said with a kind smile, "I'm just going to check on TJ. I hope Katrina isn't working him too hard. And I hope Aran is actually working... Not just playing Candy Crush. You know I think he's already passed level 100. For the love of all that's holy, I hope TJ doesn't introduce him to Pokemon Go."

Nia frowned, shaking her head, "There's so much to learn. And already so much running around in my head."

Rhydian smiled, "Bacon makes everything better."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

When Jana woke up again she almost died of shock. She barely recognised the figure in the doorway.

"Aran!" Jana yelled, sitting up, "Wow! You wash up well."

"Matei told me about the human invention, the shower," Aran said, "I dislike it greatly. But not as much as I hate his clothes. Take this shirt for example- it offers no warmth, it's scratchy, it doesn't even look nice."

Jana laughed, "That's human fashion."

"I'd rather wear what Meinir likes," Aran said, passing a tray of food to Jana.

"I wouldn't," Jana said, "That yellow cardigan makes her look jaundiced. Thanks, Aran. Erm ok..."

Aran frowned, "What is it?"

"I thought we had at least three packs of black pudding left," Jana said in confusion, "Ah, well at least Rhydian didn't murder by bacon with maple syrup."

Aran looked guilty.

"Meinir," Jana concluded, "I should have guessed."

"She didn't mean to," Aran said, "She just couldn't not eat it."

"It's ok," Jana said with a grin, "I know the feeling. I've been eating truck loads of it recently. Well that and fizzy worms and even chocolate now..."

Aran stared at Jana's stomach, "What kind of monster is it?"

Jana hit Aran, "It's a baby. And she's going to grow up big and strong like her Mummy and Daddy. Isn't that right, Ari?"

"Ari?" Aran asked with a grin.

"Yeah, it's short for Arianne Madalina ," Jana explained, "My Mama and Matei's Mama's names."

"Ari?" Aran repeated again.

"What?" Jana asked, "If we called her Maddy it would get so confusing."

Aran shook his head, "If you say so."

"Yeah, will Matei like it," Jana said, "Anyway, how is Nia doing?"

Aran reached out to stroke Jana's hair, "You were asleep all day. Matei thought it best to let you rest. The test went well, blood results will be back tomorrow. It's just well..."

"She didn't attack them," Jana said, "If she did, I would have..."

"Jana, calm down," Aran told her, "No, it's not that, it's just, they've already found out some of what's wrong with her. I mean they've given her some emotional labels."

"Go on," Jana said.

"Well it isn't ass-eed-re-flux," Aran said, "Like you thought it might. And anyone I don't understand what your stomach has to do with your mind."

Jana bit her lip, she was hoping it was something like acid reflux, something that could easily be solved with a few tablets and some careful diet planning. It must be that other thing then, and that scared Jana.

"They said she had that TP thing," Aran said, "Like what you have, and cloudy weather- depression, I mean! That's what they also call it when you get lots of clouds, according the man on the TV. And ana-ana..."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Jana said. Depression, PTSD, anorexia. Nia was suffering so much, Jana felt so bad not being able to be there for her. But then again Jana didn't feel too good herself. She felt so tired, even though she'd just been asleep. She was already yawning.

"Are you ok, Jana?" Aran asked worried, "You're not too well yourself. I'll go get Dr Whitewood."

"Ok," Jana replied, "I'll just be sleeping."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

"Is she going to be ok?" Nia asked, as she stood anxiously, watching as Dr Whitewood examined Jana.

Matei sat on the edge of the bed, watching closely too.

Dr Whitewood smiled, "I'll need to do a blood test. But I'm pretty sure I know what's going on. And it explains a lot too. In fact, if I'm right in my thinking, it might explained why Arianne miscarried."

"Ari," Matei said, "Will she be ok?"

Dr Whitewood frowned.

"The baby's name is Arianne Madalina," Nia explained, "Cute, right?"

"They'll both be ok," Dr Whitewood reassured the cubs, "I think it's just anaemia. Iron deficiency. Jana's body doesn't have enough, it can cause problems sometimes, if it gets bad enough. My theory is that Jana has a genetic form of anaemia."

"But I thought anaemia wasn't inherited, not exactly," Matei said.

"There's some research," Dr Whitewood explained, "Related to pernicious anaemia and autoimmune attack of gastric cells. But I think it's far more likely to be Celiac's or Crohn's. The results should help us find out what's going on. In the mean time, just make sure Jana eats a lot of red meat, and other B12 and iron rich foods. And we should probably start her on supplements too."

Matei nodded, "Do you really think this is what caused Arianne too...?"

Dr Whitewood nodded, "I'm almost certain. Meinir told me that she thought Jana sleeping all day was normal, because Arianne would do exactly the same thing. It isn't normal, though. Meinir wouldn't have known, what with being so young. Ceri was concerned though."

"So after this, Jana will be ok?" Nia asked, trying to understand.

"She'll feel a lot better," Dr Whitewood reassured the young girl, "And Ari will be safer too."

Nia smiled, "Good."

Matei smiled too, "Good. Because tomorrow is going to be a busy day."


	11. Chapter 11

****14 years ago****

The whole of the wolfblood camp had descended into a dark and solemn mood that seemed to stretch on forever. Even the flowers that were usually so vibrant during the summer had begun to decay and rot. The wind had picked up and the air had a chill to it. It was as if the whole of the forest was coming out in sympathy for the wild pack's loss.

Jana sat in her tent sobbing. She hadn't done much apart from that for a good few days. She still couldn't believe that her mother was dead. Her father had tried to explain to her where her Mama was now- off in the wolfblood heaven where there was endless meat and no one ever needed to hunt and the Gods would watch over her forever. Jana was glad her Mama was happy and safe, but it didn't take any of the pain away, she just wanted her Mama to be there with her.

The pack had been fasting in preparation for the rite of Freaghard, where the pack would guide Arianne's soul into the afterlife. It was one of the few rites that a young cub was allowed to attend. However many choose to keep their cubs away from it, feeling they were too young to see such a thing. When it came to alphas and enaid cymar alffas, the pack had no choice in the matter, tradition stated that all members must attend, unless severely ill, of course.

Jana felt severely ill. Severely ill with grief. Not only had she lost her Mama but she'd also lost Rhydian. The pack had refused to go out again after Arianne's death, not only would it have inappropriate and considered disrespectful, but everyone was afraid, afraid that the metal beetles would come for them too. If it wasn't for tradition stating that they must stay at their camp for another two full moons, they would have left instantly.

Jana was pretending to be asleep when Ceri walked into her tent. Unlike the rest of the pack, healers were permitted to enter the alpha's quarters whenever they felt it necessary. Given that Jana hadn't eaten anything for the past four days and had barely drunk any water, Ceri must have felt that it was more than necessary.

Jana refused to acknowledge her aunt, instead she just stared at her furs as if somehow doing that might make everything right and might make Rhydian and her Mama come back.

Ceri placed a bowl of meat close to her niece, worry evident on her face. Jana was already a skinny little thing, and she'd been so sickly as a baby, that had caused her to grow a lot more slowly than the other cubs. She also took long to recover from illnesses. Ceri worried immensely about the young cub, the last thing she needed was for Jana to get sick, Alric had enough to worry about without worrying that his heir, and only child, might end up dead too.

"Eat!" Ceri commanded forcefully, "Eat else your father will bring hell down on the both of us."

Jana sniffed at the meat before looking away disinterested, "I don't want to. I don't feel hungry. Anyway, we're supposed to be fasting for the rite."

Ceri sighed, "Not cubs, Jana. Cubs under the age of ten never fast. It's the rules."

Jana rubbed her eyes, "Mama never cared about the rules."

Ceri sighed again, looking away so that Jana couldn't see how she struggled to hold back her tears.

"Your Mama wouldn't want you to get ill," Ceri reminded the young girl in a pleading tone, "She'd want you to be happy and well. Will you at least try to eat something?"

Jana sat up, but her face wore a stubborn expression and she shook her head.

"Jana," Ceri said, "We all miss your Mama, but doing this won't help anything."

"Where's Nia?" Jana mumbled, "I asked to see her."

Ceri looked away from the cub again. She couldn't tell her... If Jana was already a mess, then surely this would just make everything so much worse.

"Nia's been exiled," Ceri told her, pain clear in her voice, "I tried everything. Your Uncle Gerwyn tried everything. But your father... He was already adamant about exiling Alais... He'd been wanting to for months... He said he'd let us look after Nia... That he's make Nia and Rhydian siblings by rite."

"Well that's never going to happen now is it," Jana replied grumpily, "I never want to go anyway."

"What do you mean, carriad?" Ceri asked.

"I didn't want to leave camp," Jana began, sobbing, "It's all my fault, isn't it? If I hadn't left with Nia, Mama would still be alive."

"Oh, carriad," Ceri said, hugging the young girl, "Don't ever think that. Don't ever say that."

"Well then whose fault was it?!" Jana yelled in anguish.

Alric entered the tent. Whilst he had not been so distraught with grief as his daughter, or rather he'd been more careful not to show it, he still felt torn up inside, lost. Arianne had been his enaid cymar alffa, and whilst they'd argued more often than they'd said I love you to one another, he still love her more than anything in the world, except for his daughter of course.

And that was why he had to do it, because it was the only safe thing to say, and if he didn't say, it well- he might lose Jana too. If Jana truly believed she was responsible, she wouldn't be able to live with that guilt. He couldn't lose Jana too...

"It's like you said, Jana," Alric said in a grave tone, "You never wanted to leave. It was Nia who talked you into it."

"So it was Nia's fault?" Jana asked, confused.

Alric nodded. Hoping that this would help Jana find peace.

Of course, it never really did.

Jana never truthfully believed Nia was responsible.

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

 ** **Present Day****

"What do you think, TJ?" Matei asked, holding up a baby Darth Vader costume, "Not for this Halloween of course? But next year, this should be great, don't you think?"

TJ shook his head, "One it's a boy's costume and two that's just so wrong. In so many ways. You know, you need to buy 'normal' clothing for Ari, right?"

Jana turned to face TJ, placing a frilly pink dress back on the shelf next to her, "Why do clothes have to be boy's clothes or girl's clothes? And I like it, although though not as much as the baby pumpkin costume. Just look at the hat, TJ! Look at the little stalk!"

Meinir gave Jana a tired look, holding her coffee cup tightly, "It's not even passed Lughnasadh and you're already buying things for Samhain. Not even this year's Samhain! And I could sworn I saw Yule decorations a moment ago. These humans have no respect for the Gods and the passing of the year."

Jana laughed, "It's just human tradition. Christmas puds in September. Hot cross buns all year round."

"Hot cross what?" Meinir yelled.

Jana shook her head, "Never mind. Look, we need to find ten more dresses, five tops, two pairs of jeggings, some socks... Oh and a singing wolf."

"A singing wolf?" Rhydian asked, appearing with a few plain white baby-grows in hand and throwing them into the basket.

"Yeah," Jana began exuberantly, "Because you know how babies can hear their parents before they're born, right? Well, you know how babies are also calmed by lullabies. I was thinking, I can't sing to her on full moons so what if I had it all set up so that whilst I was wolfing out, she had a toy wolf singing to her to calm her down."

"And I'm assuming," Matei added with a grin, "That this wolf would look like you and sound like you, too?"

Jana nodded.

"So we're not just looking for a singing wolf?" Rhydian said, trying to hold back laughter, "We're looking for a red Welsh singing wolf."

"And we're also assuming that Ari will think it looks like Jana," TJ added.

Jana sighed, "I can't expect you to understand! Ok, I am willing to accept that we might have to get one that looks like Matei instead."

"No we're bloody not buying one!" Matei yelled.

"Matei!" Jana yelled, "Not around Ari! She can hear you!"

Rhydian and Maddy shared a concerned look. They hoped that whenever they became parents they wouldn't end up like Jana.

Matei looked through the dresses and tops that were already in the basket.

"Matei! Stop panicking!" Jana reassured them, placing a hand over his, "I saved up loads of my tips over the past few weeks just so I could go on big shopping trip."

"No Jana, it's not-,"Matei began.

"And we'll still have a lot of stuff to buy later," Jana said, "So I'm so going to need your help a lot then."

"I know, it's just-," Matei tried to continue.

"So, you see everything will be fine!" Jana said with a grin.

"No, it's- do all of these have wolves on them?!" Matei yelled in disbelief.

"No," Jana replied indignantly, "This top only have one wolf on it."

Matei rolled his eyes, "Maybe we should just make Ari wear a sign with 'wolfblood baby' on it. Just to make sure that everyone knows that she's one. You know, just in case they don't get it from the, er, 'wolfblood jeggings'."

"It was only a matter of time before they had wolfblood themed clothing lines," Maddy replied, "Especially around this time of year."

Rhydian shook his head, "And of course, Jana just had to buy wolfblood themed clothes."

"It's cute!" Jana said, "I can't wait to show Nia!"

Matei shared a concerned look with Rhydian. They'd left Nia with Katrina, Katrina had to work at the Kafe, Gods could only guess what Nia was up to. They just hoped that Katrina wasn't letting Nia actually work at the Kafe. Jana v.s. Pannini toaster was a saga that didn't need repeating.

"Come on!" Jana said, "Let's get this shopping done and then go to that little café to get some chocolate cake."

"She's been craving chocolate so much recently," Rhydian complained.

"Oh, so that's where all the Terry's chocolate orange went," Maddy concluded.

"Well, er most of it," Rhydian replied apologetically.

"I should have known," Maddy said, shaking her head.

"It feels good to be back here, doesn't it?" Rhydian said, "Though not much as changed."

Maddy nodded, "Yeah, it is good to be back. Though I think everything has changed. Not only with the secret, I mean... I think life has changed for all of us."

"Not that much," Rhydian argued.

"No," Maddy answered, "I think this is only the beginning of something much bigger."


	12. Chapter 12

**Three Days Later**

Jana felt like death.

She swipped at the alarm clock until it landed noisly on the floor. Jana thought she could hear it fall apart at as it hit the carpet but she couldn't care less. It took too much energy to open her eyes and look. She wished Matei was there.

She didn't know what it was about city-bloods v.s. Wild-bloods but tames always seemed to have a better ability to cope with Dark Moon days that wild-bloods. Maybe it was genetics. Maybe it was just the difference between the urban and rural environments.

Jana didn't know and she was too tired to think about it.

There was a knock at the door.

"'ome 'n," Jana mumbled, her pillow muffling her words. She was aware of the smell of vanilla and freesia hitting her, but it wasn't the same as it usually was. It was muted. That was normal on a Dark Moon day.

"Dark Moon or wolf flu?" Katrina asked as she sat down next to Jana.

"Wolf flu?" Jana asked, trying to open her eyes, "No, I don't know, I just need to sleep."

"Wolf flu, you know, like that time when you had the flu and the Dark Moon at the same time," Katrina smiled, "Never mind. You just sleep, ok? Nia and I will be in the Kafe if you need us."

"She's putting me to shame, isn't she?" Jana said groggily, "I heard she didn't even burn herself on the pannini toaster the first time she used it. And she knows how to change a coffee filter without making a mess. If she learn to cook the rare meat for the specials... Then I'm done for, aren't I?"

Katrina shook her head, "There's no one who could ever replace you. You know that."

Jana smiled sleepily, "Yeah I know. I'm just so jealous of Nia right now."

"Because she can use a pannini toaster without burning herself?" Katrina asked.

Jana shook her head, "Because she's half-human half-wolfblood. She doesn't have to suffer through Dark Moon days. Or so she's told me. I'm guessing she'll be ok after a couple of coffees. I guess I could always try Matei's solution..."

Katrina frowned, "Matei? I always wondered why he was so unusually alert on Dark Moon days."

"Three bars of bournville chocolate," Jana said, with a yawn, "You know the yucky dark one. And seven cups of coffee, dark roast, with two teaspoon of sugar in each. Oh, and whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles."

"How?" Katrina asked in disbelief.

Jana shrugged, "I've never heard of wolfbloods having genes that protect against diabetes. Then again, there probably aren't many wolfbloods who do what Matei does."

"Is there no wild pack medicine?" Katrina asked, "I mean surely they would have thought of something, right?"

"Yeah," Jana replied, "Their solution is to sleep all day. Literally, all of the day. Ceri tried to make a herbal tea that might alleviate lethargy but it didn't have much of an effect."

"Well you sleep then," Katrina said, "Nia will be back from her morning run soon. Then I'll make breakfast."

"Morning run?" Jana asked in surprise, "How...?"

"Rhydian and Nia go running every morning," Katrina said, "Cousin bounding or something like that. Rhydian says it makes Nia feel more human... I mean, wolfblood... I mean, well, normal I guess. It improves her mood."

Jana smiled, "Good. But I'm still jealous of her. Morning run! On a Dark Moon!"

Katrina smiled, "Yeah, well, you guys never cease to surprise me."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

"I didn't know you could read!" Nia chirped as she raced over to Meinir. She'd been let off for a break and had been been waiting to speak to her friends all morning.

Aran looked up with a tired smile from where his head was resting on the table. Nia noticed that he'd dressed up for the first time in like... Ever. He was actually wearing clothes that fit him. Nia wondered if he was going tame, like she suspected that she was. Deep down she was scared about what going tame might entail. She knew it was a choice, not a disease, like she'd been raised to believe. But still... The idea made her feel afraid.

Meinir gazed over her copy of Lady Midnight, "Get thee gone cub! And get me a plate of strawberries!"

"Strawberries?" Nia asked in confusion.

"Don't listen to her," Aran tried to argue, but was too sleepy to do so successfully.

"Yes," Meinir replied, "It's been a long time since I've been able to eat good food of my own choosing, and all I desire is a plate of strawberries, or a bowl. A bowl would also work."

"Dear Gods," Aran complained, "How long is it until tomorrow?"

"Another..." Nia pondered, trying to understand the clock on the wall. It was a funny object, and if those stick things were supposed to be hands. Well someone really deformed must live inside it.

"How's Jana?" Aran asked yawning.

"Like death," Nia admitted, "I thought she would have got better at coping. You know, with needing to be a tame."

"One of the perks of working at Segolia," Meinir said, "Dark Moons off. And Jana has Katrina wrapped around her paw."

Nia frowned, "Is Jana...? I mean does she...?"

"Hunt for both packs?" Meinir answered, "Not that I'm aware but then again she's only ever liked Rhydian and Matei. I'm not she'd even know. She's not been very... Experimentative."

Aran rolled his eyes.

Nia thought about that. It was something she'd been pondering for a while. It did seem like Katrina and Jana were very close, even for friends.

"They're like Parabati," Meinir explained, "Except not the Jules and Emma kind."

"Para-ba-what?" Nia asked.

"Like super-super-best friends," Aran replied.

"But I want to be Jana's parabati!" Nia yelled, "I've always been her best friend."

Meinir gave the young cub a sympathetic smile, "I know. But you've been gone so long."

"I want to be part of Jana's life," Nia added, "A real part. The wild has never served me well, that's why I've been trying to work here as much as I can, because if I'm going to be tame, then I need to learn how to do tame things. How to live a tame life. And.. Well, I think the tame world is the only place where I can find out how to be the real me... The one who doesn't feel afraid or think she's evil."

Meinir felt her eyes water. She blinked quickly. No way was she ever going to be caught crying, never.

Aran sighed, he seemed to be miles away. Nia wondered what was running through his mind. He seemed distracted recently.

"You aren't the only one with decisions to make," Meinir answered simply, "Life's changing for all of us now."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

Maddy was aware of a beam of light creeping through the curtains but didn't have the energy to pull it closed. Instead she just buried her face in Rhydian's chest, making him laugh.

The hotel room they were in was small and basic. But there had been no room at the flat, it was too cold to stay at the den (well according to Rhydian) and they were going to be picking up the keys for their new home in a matter of days. Right now Maddy couldn't have cared less. She was with the man she loved, and that was all that mattered.

She heard her phone buzz and sat up groggily.

"Probably Jana," Rhydian said between yawns, "Or maybe Katrina. Let's hope it's nothing serious."

Maddy looked at the text message her face turning pale. She passed the phone to Rhydian.

 _We know the risk you pose. We plan to exterminate you all. We have Jana and Nia. Don't think you'll ever be able to escape us._


	13. Chapter 13

When Nia woke up she was aware that there were two humans in the room with her. She was also aware that Jana was somewhere else, but she had no idea where that might be.

The walls were all painted black and there were no windows. There was a single, solid black door with an intricate lock on it. The beech coloured table in front of her felt cold to the touch and her chair was hard and uncomfortable.

Nia looked intensely at the two humans in front of her until the female appeared to look unsettled. The man however look completely unfazed and somewhat amused.

"I think you know who we are," the man said without pre-amble, "I'm sure Jana has told you about us."

Nia shook her head, but then paused, biting her lip and thinking for a moment. She remembered a comment someone had made- Matei! It had been Matei. It had been the day before, Jana seemed upset, Nia thought it was nothing, but she'd heard them talking about...

"The Organisation," Nia said, "That's what you are. Isn't it?"

The man smiled, "There you go. And Jana also tell you what we do?"

Nia shook her head, "No, but I'm guessing you don't like wolfbloods."

The man grinned but the woman just sighed shakily.

"We're here to assess if wolfbloods are a threat to humans," the woman replied.

Nia bit back on the urge to growl at them and flash her eyes gold. Threat to humans! It had been human who'd killed Arianne! Humans were everywhere, they greatly outnumbered wolfbloods, they could wipe them out in an instant...

"And you're an interesting case, Nia," the man continued, "Because you see, your friend Jana has been going on for a good while now about how humans don't have to fear wolfbloods, how wolfbloods are all nice and kind. But they're not, are they now? You're living proof of that. We know that you killed your father."

Nia growled, forgetting herself, "That man was not my father."

"Really?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow, "The DNA results say otherwise. You do know what DNA is right?"

Nia nodded, "It's something you humans can't get enough of from what I've been told. You've been crazy about getting your hands on wolfblood DNA for years. But you humans know nothing from a few letters and numbers on a piece of paper. You know nothing about how that plays out in real life. So this man was a father by your definition. I accept that. But in wolfblood terms... He was a nobody. In my society a man is only your father when he acts like one, when he loves you like a father should love his daughter. If he is not like that, then he is nothing to you."

The man nodded understandingly, "And what kind of man does he have to be, to deserve to die?"

Nia gazed hard into the man's dark eyes, "I think you can guess what kinds of men might deserve to die."

The man grinned, "Yes, I'm getting a very good idea of how your 'society' works."

"See the issue is," the woman clarified, "We need to know if wolfblood society, in particular, wild wolfblood society can co-exist alongside human society."

"I'm guess that if you decide it can't then you're going to kill us," Nia said.

The man smiled, "For all your faults, I like you, you're not as naive as the others. Some of them came in here thinking this wasn't an interrogation. You came in here prepared."

Nia narrowed her eyes, "Humans have taught me to always be prepared. Maybe they should take time learn the same lessons. When Jana revealed the secret it took you by surprise, but think about it, you didn't know at all did you? Not even when you know now that there's a good chance there's wolfbloods in your government. Your boss might even be one! We lived in secret for years, but we were still there, humans found out about us long before we told them. Just take Jana's friend Shannon and her 'monster on the moors'. I think you're afraid, you're afraid because you know you're weak by comparison. Because the world was outsmarted by a group of teenagers."

"Why did you kill your father, Nia?" the man asked in angry voice.

Nia leaned in close, and whispered,"Because he deserved it."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

Jana tried to stay alert but it was becoming more and more difficult. Dr Whitewood had given her the heads up about letting the Organisation know about dark moons and comets. But Jana knew that the biggest secret, Kincaid, was the one they most wanted to hear about...

She'd just have to lie well. He faltering before hadn't helped her.

Jana bit her lip. What would Meinir do? Meinir had beaten her and Nia black and blue, she'd scared her during training, she'd been a constant source of nightmares through her childhood. And her father had always forgiven her with a tap on the wrist and a promise not to do it again (Meinir always crossed her fingers behind her back of course).

Times had changed, Meinir had become nicer. But she was still a master manipulator.

Jana needed to learn how to be a bitch instead of a puppy.

The man sauntered into the room, scraping the chair against the floor and giving Jana a stern look.

"Kincaid," the man said, "Where is he?"

"I don't know," Jana said, she felt like she'd been repeating it too much. Maybe she needed a change of tactics.

"You had access to all areas right?" the man asked.

Jana shook her head, "No. No I didn't. Segolia was tasked with investigating a suspicious fire. I wasn't given access to the file because... I was in contact with the victims and they thought it might unsettle them."

"Matei and Emilia?" he asked, "What was suspicious about the fire?"

"A couple of humans," Jana said, "They heard dogs barking. But I dealt with the problem."

"How did you deal with the problem?" the man asked.

Jana flipped her hair back behind her shoulder, giving him a grin, "Well, I think you might be able to guess how I convince a human boy to spill his secrets."

The man laughed, "You think I'm going to buy that? Drop the act, Jana. I know you'd never cheat on Matei."

"That much is true," Jana said, "But this was before Matei and I got together. And Matei wouldn't have considered it cheating. I protect him and he protect me, whatever way is necessary."

The man gave her a concerned look and muttered, "Kids these days. Ok, if you say so. So after you pillow talked these boys into telling the truth. What did you find out?"

"They saw nothing," Jana admitted, "Thought nothing of it."

"ReallY?" The man said, "Because I've heard reports that a group of three wolves- recognised as Matei, Emilia and yourself.- ambushed them."

"My love life isn't any of your business," Jana said in an offish tone, "Like I say, Matei would do anything to defend me."

"Even kill a human?" the man asked.

Jana smiled, "Oh no. If I wanted someone dead I'd do it myself."

"Would you now?" the man asked, "I'm getting a very good idea now. Is that what happened to Kincaid?"

Jana bit her lip, "I'll show you what happened to him."


	14. Chapter 14

Jana tried as hard as she could to not let her nerves show but it didn't work. The man kept on looking at her, his eyes narrowed in suspicion and fear. She just hoped this all worked out ok. Because she needed to protect her pack and she needed to protect Ari too. And the only way she could think of was by sacrificing herself.

"Here," Jana said, pointing to a small mound of earth surrounded by a group of tall and knarly looking trees. A thin layer of leaves covered the ground and the ivy climbing up the trunks was lustrous and green. It was perfect Jana thought to herself, except it was also sacriledge. But it was the only thing she could think of.

Jana let out a shaky breath. Now for the acting. Now for the hardest thing she'd ever have to do in her life.

"I didn't mean to..." Jana said, covering her eyes with her hands and letting the man believe that she was crying.

Think of the day your mother died, Jana coached herself, that always makes you cry.

The man looked at the mound of earth and then back at Jana with a scared look.

"You killed Kincaid?" the man asked, as if for once he was actually trying to believe that a wolfblood could be good and kind and not evil and little better than an animal.

Jana nodded, "I didn't mean to... My father, if he ever found out. And Matei..."

"Your father?" the man asked, "Wouldn't he be pleased? We heard that Kincaid kidnapped the wild pack?"

Jana nodded, "He did. Meinir..."

"Your friend, Meinir," the man began, "What about her?"

"He..." Jana said, before sobbing hysterically, "He would have done the same thing to me, if... He wanted to kill all of the men in the pack... He had this book... Drawings... Equations on boards all around the room...I couldn't let him get away with it... I had to avenge Meinir, it's what pack sister do!"

The man confused, "So you are saying that Kincaid assaulted her?"

Jana looked up at the man with tear stained eyes, making sure that her own eyes met his with a look of absolute passionate misery.

She nodded, before looking away quickly, "He would have done the same thing to me. My father... He wanted to pass the decision... But I knew he'd never avenge Meinir properly. That bastard, he deserve to die for what he did to her! But still I, I didn't want to disobey my father. The need to honour and follow your alpha is above all else. I couldn't disobey my father, even if I really wanted to. I knew I couldn't kill him, I just thought that if I..."

"The post mortum will reveal everything," the man said solemnly as he pulled his phone out of his coat pocket, "So wait, are you saying that an alpha's word if law, and that the pack has to obey absolutely, and has no choice to disobey?"

Jana nodded, smiling internally- if only! That would have made everything so much easier with Meinir. It was a stroke of luck that the man had clearly never watched Breaking Dawn.

"So they are forced to obey?" the man said, "Like it's a part of them that's stopping them from acting otherwise?"

"Exactly," Jana said.

"So Matei, TJ, Imara and Selina," the man began, "When you decided to go public. They had no option but to do as you commanded, they were forced by something biological inside of them to reveal their wolves to the world?"

Jana nodded, "In the pack an alpha's command overshadows a member's individual wants and concerns."

"So wolfbloods are only as dangerous as their alphas?" the man said.

Jana smiled, "You could say that."

"So with you being the leader of this movement..." The man pondered.

"Yes, I suppose in their eyes I would be," Jana said thoughtfully, "Although I've never seen myself as one. And then their biological instincts would set in. The wolfblood world would be divided into those who stood with me and those who were against me and want to hide from the humans."

"Which makes you the most dangerous wolfblood in the world," the man concluded.

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

Nia refused to touch the sandwich in front of her. It was beef and good quality beef too but she wasn't at all hungry. She was worried about her pack, especially Jana. She knew Jana was there with her, somewhere, close, she could sense it.

The human woman sat across the table from her watching her closely. Nia could tell that she was nervous, and openly so, she didn't try to cover it up with bravado or by trying to antagonise her. The woman was genuine, or as genuine as humans could be.

Nia smiled at her warmly, "I don't think you're much like that human man. I think you're a lot nicer than him."

The woman looked confused as to the direction the conversation was going and worried about if she should be concerned.

"I think if you had your way," Nia continued, "You probably wouldn't be carrying out these interviews like this. You'd actually want to see what we can do in the wild, see Eolas and Ansian for yourself. I think you're just curious at heart, really. You've already figured it out just by finding how many wolfbloods living in human society, by looking at how many of them are criminals. You and I know that the worst thing most normal wolfbloods do is eat all of the free sample of meat on the deli counter at the supermarkets."

The woman smiled in spite of herself, "That is quite true. The statistics do show that wolfbloods are less likely to commit criminal acts than humans. Although, you and Rhydian haven't helped those statistics."

"Rhydian had a hard childhood," Nia began, "He lost his pack when he was three. Essentially abducted by humans. Imagine finding out that you're parents never abandoned you, that they loved you dearly and always wanted you, imagine finding out that your birthday is wrong, that your name had been made up. Imagine being moved around all the time, having no mum or dad, no brothers and sisters, no real place to call home."

"Nia," the woman said, "I understand what that must have been like for your cousin. But it didn't excuse his behaviour."

"No, it didn't, not really," Nia said, "But it explains it. Rhydian wanted assurances, he wanted to save up so that he wouldn't become homeless once he left care. He wanted the best start in life for him and Maddy. I think that makes him a lot more like a human than you might want to believe. Yes, we have above average senses, we can run faster, and we have a wolf living inside of, literally. But humans have guns, bombs, science. You are just as armed as us, if not more. It's who's holding the gun or the test tube that makes the difference."

The woman seemed to be pondering what Nia said very seriously. Nia just hoped she was getting through to her.

"And you?" the woman said, "You killed your father."

Nia nodded, "I'll tell you why. I feel like I can be honest now. But you have to understand, I wanted to tell Jana this first, because she is my alpha. That's the only reason I haven't been honest with you. Because the time hasn't been right. My father... He was a very sick man, as you humans would say. The pack would just call him crazy. He didn't love my mother, instead he came into our camp late one night and had his way with her, so to speak."

The woman looked horrified.

"I spent my childhood being told that I was worthless and horrible," Nia continued, tears forming in her eyes, "My mother never loved me. I couldn't blame her. I reminded her of him. I looked like him. When I was three, Jana's pack exiled me. Rhydian was taken by the humans, and Jana and I went to human world to look for him, Arianne was killed by a drunk driver when she came to find us. Jana saw it all. Alric, I can't begin to describe the love he had for his wife, he wasn't himself and everyone was done hearing my mother abuse me. He exiled us. And we joined another pack- Elgar's pack."

"Who is Elgar?" the woman asked, "Jana never mentioned him."

"Oh, she wouldn't," Nia said, "His name is taboo in the wild pack. He used to love Arianne, became insanely jealous when it turned out that Alric was her enaid cymar alffa. Alric's father had to exile him, he feared what he might do to his cub. People care more for their families in the wild I think, it's because life and death is so much more real. Well, anyway, Elgar took us in, on the condition that my mother would marry him. She did. I think that he really was her enaid cymar alffa. She seemed happier, and was kinder to me too. Though she never really stopped hating me. It was made clear to me that I would never be Elgar's successor. I didn't care. I'm no alpha. Elgar tolerated me so long as I kept out of his way. Then my brother was born..."

"Your brother?" the woman asked.

Nia nodded, "I wasn't even allowed to stay for long enough to find out his name. Elgar exiled me the moment they said he was healthy. I knew no one would take in a half-human half-wolfblood and, in the wild, the lone wolf dies, the pack survives. I'd heard a rumor about Jana becoming tame. I wanted to find her, to join her new pack."

"How does news spread in the wild-blood world?" the womana asked with genuine interest.

"Whenever alliances are formed," Nia began, "Through marriages, peace treaties. Agreements about territories. Alphas meet and any important news gets shared, or rather, gossiped about. Jana's father, Alric, he is part of a long and noble dinisty. All the way back to the Saxons. He is royalty, essentially. So news about his packs always ends up reaching us one way or another."

"So you came to Newcastle to look for Jana?" the woman asked.

Nia nodded, "I couldn't remember her exact scent. But I trusted that I would find her. That's when I noticed something familiar. Humans don't have scents per say, but they still do smell, in their own way. I followed the smell and that's when I found my father. I didn't mean to, I didn't even know he lived in Newcastle. When I saw him, I became so angry, that was before he..."

"Nia?" the woman asked in worry. It was as if only then did she start seeing Nia as she really was. Instead of a dangerous animal, she saw a girl, just a girl, broken and beaten down, thin and frail, and barely holding it all together.

"He tried to do to me," Nia began, "What he did to my mother. He almost succeeded, but then I saw a knife. I knew what he was going to do. So I had to. Otherwise, he would have killed me. I only meant to stop him, so I could run away. I stabbed him in what I thought was the stomach."

"Punctured aorta," the woman said, "The coroner's report. A coroner is someone who decides how a person died."

Nia nodded, "Well that makes more sense I guess."

The woman let out a shaky sigh, "Nia, I don't know if there'll be much I can do to help you. They might want to charge you for manslaughter- accidental death. But there's a chance that because of the situation- because it was self defense that the charge might be lighter."

"I don't want to be locked up in a cage," Nia sobbed.

"No," the woman said, "There will be other places where they might send you. Places where they can help you."

"But I need to be with Jana," Nia said, "I only feel safe when I'm with Jana. She's not a sister to me, not really, she's something...more. I know Matei is her enaid cymar alffa, but I'm ok with that, being around her just makes me happy. I don't know what I'd do without her."

The woman looked shocked, she placed a hand carefully on Nia's, "I was wrong. I promise I'm going to fight for you."


	15. Chapter 15

Rhydian showed Matei the text for what appeared to be the hundreth time. He worried about his friend, he worried about Jana and Nia too. It was as if the world was constantly working against them. He wanted to do everything in the world to protect them. He just felt so hopeless, moving back to England was supposed to being another way of him helping them. But right now nothing felt like it was making any difference.

Maddy took his hand, "I'm sure they'll be fine. Jana's smart. Once this is all over, we'll go to wild pack. We'll go into hiding. We've all agreed and I'm sure Jana will agree to. It's going to be the safest option for us. I think we will actually need a wolfblood army- to protect us from the humans."

Rhydian shook his head, "No. But I do think we need to be on wolfblood territory. And Jana needs a break and somewhere safe for Ari."

Maddy nodded, "It's such a shame that we can't live our lives in harmony with the humans. Even Aran..."

"Even Aran what?" Rhydian asked.

"He wanted to become tame," Maddy admitted, "Live with Meinir."

"And abandon my sister?" Matei asked, anger clear in his voice, veins appearing on his skin, eyes glowing yellow.

"Hardly," Selina replied, "You know she's got the other cubs, and Alric. She's a fire walker too- they command respect. More respect than an alpha at times."

Matei calmed down, "Sorry, I'm just worried. You know, Jana, Ari, even Nia. I just don't need to be worrying about Emilia too. I've got enough to think about right now."

Meinir put a reassuring arm around the young cub, "I know. It's going to be alright. Jana's clever, she can talk her way out of things."

Aran smiled, "Do you remember that time? I was what twelve, thirteen, you would have been fifteen, sixteen. It was just around the time when we'd started teaching Jana self defense. Jana thought she'd get us back for pushing her too hard during training. So she worms in your dinner. Everyone knew it was her, but then she managed to convince them that you did it to trying and make it look as if Jana was an evil cub, and that you should be the heir instead."

"Yes, and everyone believed her," Meinir said, rolling her eyes, "Because she was young and cute, with curly red hair, and freckles, and because she was Alric's daughter. But really, Jana's about as harmful and manipulative as a marshmallow. I just hope that some of my bad behaviour rubbed off on her, so that she at least has a chance of dealing with these people."

"And once we get her back," Matei said, "Her and Nia. I'm not going to ever let her get taken."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

Jana's shoulders were sore from where her hands were handcuffed together behind her back. She saw the forensic officers, busy digging up the grave.

She was lucky, in a daft way, she thought. If old Great Uncle Berty hadn't popped his clogs a year ago, she would never had a chance to come up with the story. She herself truthfully had no idea where Kincaid was. She'd been told Iceland but there were no Segolia offices there and of course, she didn't believe for a second that they would actually tell her the real location.

Jana wanted to smile to herself. She had protected the pack, all the wolfbloods in the world, now the Organisation would never know about Kincaid's serum, they would never find out how a person's wolf could be taken away.

But it was just beginning to dawn on her that she would pay a terrible price for it. True, they would let Arianne live with Matei, now that she'd shown that her pack posed no threat. All the humans were worried about now was Jana.

They believed she was the only wolfblood who posed a threat to humanity.

That had been exactly what Jana wanted.

But she knew she'd likely pay with her life.

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK  
Matei and his pack burst into the Organisation's offices, tearing through the corridors, his friends following closely behind him. They knew the plan, splitting up into teams of two or three that each went down a seperate corridor, branching off of the main one, kicking down doors, looking for the two girls.

Matei stuck closely to Ceri and Selina. He knew that it was likely they would be the ones who rescues Jana and Nia. With Ceri's wild wolfblood senses, Selina's martial arts skills and his ability to find his enaid cymar alffa through that old wolfblood instinct- they were a formidable team.

The humans spilled out into the corridor's several of them holding guns.

"Stop!" Matei yelled. Well, this had turned out just as he expected it to.

The woman, that awful blonde haired woman, appeared, Nia following along behind her.

The woman nodded and Nia raced towards them, running straight into Rhydian's arms.

She was free, it seemed. Matei didn't know how. He couldn't imagine how Nia had managed to convince them she was not a threat.

"Where's Jana?" Matei asked, panicked.

"She's been arrested," the woman admitted, "On suspicion of murdering Dr. Kincaid."

"What?!" Dr Whitewood exclaimed in disbelief, "That's ridiculous! Dr Kincaid is alive, living in Reykjavik. I have his address saved in my phone. He's heavily guarded of course."

The woman frowned, "But Jana took my colleague to see Kincaid's body."

Matei and TJ shared a confused and scared look.

"Old Berty!" Meinir yelled, "Of course!"

"Great Uncle Berty," Aran clarified, "Grizzly old goat. Always complaining about not getting enough meat to eat. Died of a heart attack, I think that's what you humans called it. Died about a year ago."

Dr Whitewood nodded with a smile, "Of course. Jana was thinking that you couldn't recover DNA from someone who died that long ago. She knew they'd be able to tell if the skeleton was female, and of course she couldn't use William, even if she wanted to."

"And if she ever disturbed her mother's grave," Aran said, "Well the superstitions are... You can imagine. Jana would never do it."

"But no one ever gave a toss about Berty," Meinir added, "Not that I'd ever risk being cursed to eternal hell or haunted for the rest of my life. But, eh, Jana's always been a heathen."

TJ smiled, "So I guess you'll have to unarrest her."

The woman nodded, "I guess so. But it leaves a massive mess. She tried to make it sound as if she had some power over all of you to make you follow her no matter what."

"She wishes!" TJ said, "We never listen to her!"

Imara smiled, "Unfortunate but true. That's what started this whole mess."

Katrina nodded, "I filmed them. The wild pack and Matei and TJ and Jana, all of them transforming. I was scared, I didn't know anything. I didn't even know the word wolfblood back then. I thought I might end up dead, that Jana and her friends had some weird disease that might cause them to go mad and attack me or something. TJ explained it to me the next day, wolfbloods, not monsters.

"I returned to the Kafe. My friend, Kay was there. She saw the video, she was worried, thought something weird had happened because I didn't return her calls. She sent the video to my other friend, Kara. They were scared too. But only because they didn't understand. That's why they shared it online. To keep me safe. Because they didn't understand that Jana was just my friend, and that she'd never hurt me."

"We- TJ, Emilia and I," Matei said, "We convinced Katrina to drive us to the wild pack. We wanted to transform in the wild and Emilia wanted to see Meinir. She kept on going on about her, calling Meinir her big sister. I understood, Emilia's been bullied constantly for her scars, Meinir was the first person who was able to make her feel special and not hate the way she looks."

"We tried everything not to tell the secret," TJ said, "Jana even tried to sacrifice herself, to protect us. Segolia, they..."

"They wanted to dewolf Matei and TJ," Imara continued, "Kincaid created a device, to remove a wolfblood's wolf, and make them human. He also created other devices, to give humans wolfblood powers. He was a mad man."

"We were looking into wolfblood genetics," Dr Whitewood added, "Ever since Shannon stole Jana's DNA, on a slice of pizza, of all things. Jana's DNA is extraordinary- she has genes for immunity that I've never seen in my life, the potential!"

"We'd never begrudge humans sharing our abilities," Nia said, "We love who we are, and we want humans to love who they are too. But that doesn't mean we're going to stand by and let anyone hurt us."

"Jana," Matei began, pain clear in his voice, "Agreed to have her wolf taken. To appear human when the blood samples were taken at the conference. To clear our names, to protect all of us."

"I couldn't allow it," Dr Whitewood said, "I'd looked through Jana's files the week before. I didn't know about her mother. That girl had already suffered enough. I knew that I could never think of what happened to her mother, I could never go to the wild pack again without knowing that Arianne would hate me, if she was still here, she'd hate me for hurting her daughter. I created a fake serum, to spark an immune reaction, nothing more. But of course, I couldn't tell Jana before... She still has nightmares now. It brought back memories of her mother, unearthed things that she thought she'd forgotten. I can remember how she cried out for her mother."

The woman looked as if she was ready to burst into tears, but she still maintained composure, "So Jana. She never killed Kincaid. She has no control over you."

"No," Nia said, "Everything we do for Jana we do out of love."

"And there's a way," the woman continued, "To give humans wolfblood powers. Even cure human diseases."

"Definitely," Dr Whitewood said, "But the funding, when Segolia collapsed."

"Naturally the government will fund such things," the woman replied, "And you will more than likely have a high position in all of that. And of course, we need to address the serums that can be used to remove a person's wolf."

Meinir growled at that, but it was a very human growl.

"Jana, she said," the woman said, looking at Meinir, "I guess what she really meant was that Kincaid took away your wolf. Dear God!"

Meinir stared at the ground awkwardly.

"When Meinir returned to the human world," Aran explained, "When she was sick. Dr Whitewood tried to bring her wolf back. It worked, for a short amount of time. But then it faded."

Meinir shifted awkwardly, "I'm a human now. What's done is done."

"It might not always have to be that way," the woman said, "If you could prove that you'd be no threat to us."

Meinir grinned, "I'll be on my best behaviour from now on."

Rhydian laughed, "Never thought I'd hear those words coming from you, May."

A door to the right of the pack opened, and Jana and the man walked through surrounded by a large group of police officers all dressed in black with shields and helmets.

Jana looked terrified.

"You heard us," the woman said, "Let her go."

"But," the man began to protest, "Ok."

He unlocked the handcuffs and Jana rubbed her wrists where the metal had cut into them. Matei assumed that the humans weren't aware but Jana was shaking badly, she was so stunned and confused that she stood still, shocked, and it was Matei who had to go to her.

"You should never have told them," Jana whispered, "Never. They're going to destroy our wolves I know it."

"No," the man said, "We need to all discuss this. But you've definitely shown your true colours today, Genghis Jana."

Jana looked up at him with worried eyes.

"I don't know if I'd ever be able to sacrifice so much for my family and friends," the man said, "I don't think I'd ever have that much courage. I wish I could be that brave and loving."


	16. Chapter 16

**One week later**

"So it's agreed," Dr Lotter, the government's research and security representative began, "We will fund research into the use of wolfblood genetics with a view to using the data to aid the treatment of both wolfblood and human diseases, we will employ Dr Whitewood as part our research team, Mr Jeffries will work as part of our cultural and education group and the rest of you will work for our international team, when you are, er, not working at the Kafe."

Jana smiled, "I like that idea. And the serums?"

"We will be developing the ones to enhance human abilities mostly to use in international security," the represenatitive continued, "Better soldiers. In exchange for this, we have agreed to surrender the serums to that remove a wolfblood's wolf to you, on the condition that where a wolfblood commits a significant and serious crime- for example pre-meditated murder, an act of terrorism, or any other form of violence- we will be allowed to administer the serum and remove their wolf."

Jana nodded, "Agreed."

"Good," Dr Lotter answered.

Jana let out a sigh of relief. As much as she knew that some wolfbloods would be dead against humans being given wolfblood powers it was the best compromise she could come up with. After all, it was only natural that the humans would want something in exchange for allowing Jana's pack to live freely and safely in the human world. It was natural to assume that once the humans had found out about the serums, and about Jana's unusual genetics that they'd want to find a way to use that information to better themselves. Jana just had to be an advocate for wolfbloods, to make sure they got the best deal.

Jana signed the contract, just below where Dr Lotter's and the prime minister's signatures were. She knew what to expect next. Every newspaper across the world would show this contract. Jana wanted it that way, she wanted everyone to know this was what she'd agreeded to. She wanted everyone to know that wolfbloods were their friends now, no longer deemed a threat, and free to live their lives in peace.

"I'll send this out to all the relevant parties," Dr Lotter said, "And I'll see you on Monday at five. I've got a group of new recruits that can't wait to learn wolfblood battle tactics. I'm sure you and Meinir will be great tutors."

Jana smiled. She never believed Meinir would be working for the government. It was weird how everything had come together.

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

"It really suits you," Katrina reassured Matei as placed a pile of dirty plates on the edge of the counter.

"Don't you dare!" Matei threatened, looking down at his apron. Hungry like the wolf... Somehow, someone, somewhere had found out that he was a foodie, and created this apron, of him, surrounded by piles of meat. On the one hand he felt unnerved, it was like people who have movie themed bed sheets and sleep with their face on someone else's. It was just creepy. On the other hand, at least his embarrassment was giving someone a livelihood.

"I wonder what Jana would say if she saw you wearing that," TJ said.

Matei grimaced, "She thinks it's cute. I'm putting that just down to hormones."

Kay shook her head at the wolfblood, "If Jana heard you, she'd be livid."

"Why?" Matei asked, "I'd probably be right anyway."

"Boys," Kara said, "They just don't get it ever."

Kay nodded, "And you know how we used to joke saying boys were another species. Well these boys are actually another species and they still don't get it."

Matei rolled his eyes, "Feminists. I just hope my daughter doesn't turn out like you."

"I thought your daughter was going to be a sumo wrestler," TJ said pointing to the ultrasound pictures taped to the fridge. There were several of them stuck all over the Kafe and the apartment. So many in fact that TJ thought the whole world must know about Arianne.

"She's just a little big for her age," Matei said, "Tall, I think. Gets that from me."

"Well anything she gets in the height department is going to come from you, isn't it?" TJ replied, "Oh-."

"Yep," Jana said, walking into the Kafe, a stack of paperwork in her hand, which Matei immediately took from her, "I heard every word of that. And so did Ari. The meeting went well, they agreed to all of our terms."

"I wish I could have come with you," Matei said.

Jana sighed, she wished it to. But the humans only wanted to create a treaty with her. They didn't care about her pack members so much.

TJ rolled his eyes, "You two are insufferable. Matei, I think Jana can manage carrying a few pieces of paper. And as for you, Jana, I think we need an intervention, to address how short you are, don't you agree Matei?"

Matei seemed to ponder the idea. Jana seemed beyond insulted.

"This is a far more troubling topic for us," Matei began, "Remember when I asked you to get the pepper from the shelf and you had to leave to get that step thing?"

Kay and Kara shared a confused look.

"Er, no I didn't," Jana said, "And you went and got the pepper yourself."

"I was still left there for ages," Matei replied with a pout, "And my eggs nearly burnt to the bottom of the pan. Do you know what could have happened?"

"Hard boiled egg?" Jana asked. She couldn't believe she was actually having this conversation.

"This is serious Jana," TJ said solemnly, "Deadly serious."

Jana couldn't help but grin. Rhydian appeared, clearly listening into the conversation but trying not to laugh.

"Are you on about that rubbish that burnt bits on pans cause cancer?" Rhydian said.

"Yeah, well processed meat does too apparently," Jana said moodily, "And so does chocolate. So if you're so worried about my shortness putting you at risk, why don't you cut out chocolate whilst you're at it!"

Katrina hi-fived Jana.

"Why are you slapping hands?" Nia asked, giving them a weird look, as she carried several plates over to the side.

"You've gone too far now, Jana," Matei said, "Way too far."

Jana pretended to look scared and pouted, "What do I have to do earn your forgiveness?"

Matei moved so that his face was only a few centimeters from Jana's and whispered, "I can think of a few things."

"Wolfblood hearing!" TJ yelled, "It really doesn't matter if you whisper. We can still all hear it."

"Or imagine it at least," Katrina said, "What happened to not in front of the baby?"

Matei looked miserable.

"And whilst we're on the subject of interventions," Jana said, "I think we need to address the literature that you're reading to Arianne, it's completely inappropriate."

"I only read twilight fanfiction once," Matei replied, "And a little Edgar Allen Poe."

"You know you could have just removed Ari from the situation," Katrina said, "You know, considering she's actually inside of you."

"I was asleep," Jana said, "And I woke up, and that's when I saw him reading that filth to Ari."

Matei rolled his eyes, "Hey, Poe's poetry is beautiful. As for the fanfic, I was at a loss for ideas. It was that or War of the Worlds."

"That the wind came out of a cloud, chilling and killing my Annabel Lee," Jana quoted, "Yup, so beautiful!"

Katrina and Nia gave Matei a worried look.

"Anything sounds ridiculous when taken out of context," Matei said.

"You sound ridiculous most of the time, cub," Meinir said as she joined them, "One double espresso please Katrina."

"Sure," Katrina replied.

Matei shook his head, "Well I guess we'll have to wait until Ari's born to find out what she likes."

Jana was about to argue, when she felt a strange movement, it took her a moment to realise what was going on, "Or, maybe, we won't have to wait so long."

Matei grinned, placing a hand over Jana's stomach, "Wow she's strong. I just hope she doesn't hurt you. I thought it was a little early anyway..."

Jana shook her head, "No, any time from sixteen weeks, that's what Dr Whitewood said. And she's big anyway."

Matei smiled, "Well little Ari, I really hope you have a better taste in poetry that your mum."

Jana rolled her eyes, "Don't listen to Daddy, he's silly and old, doesn't know what he's talking about. You just wait Matei, those first two weeks, when I'm to tired and that pack lays down the rules, you just wait."

"Rules?" Rhydian asked, "Oh, I forgot, wild pack rules, ha, bad luck."

Jana smiled evily.

"Wild pack rules?" Kay asked.

"Yes," Meinir said with a grin, "In the wild pack, a mother, especially a high ranking wolfblood, must rest for at least two weeks after a child is born. Sometimes longer. During that time, other pack members, but mostly the father, attend to the child, the mother does nothing."

"Oh, I want her to be born at my old home!" Matei said, "Yeah, now I understand, Jana, now I understand!"

"You want Ari to be born in the wild?!" Katrina exclaimed, "But it's not safe!"

Jana shook her head, "The doctors have agreed, they don't think it's too risky."

"Seriously?" Katrina asked in disbelief.

Nia nodded, "And for wolfbloods the rules are slightly different. It's as if the wild part, the wolf part knows it's safe. There are next to no fatalities in the wild. I've never heard of any."

"The wild pack knows what it's doing," Jana said, "Humans and wolfbloods, working all together."

"For the record, I've made sure that the pack will be staying on an abandoned farm only a mile from a hospital specialising in neo-natal care," Matei clarified.

Katrina looked far less horrified at the idea.

"You see Ari," Jana said, as the baby kicked again, "Told you everything would be ok."

 _Thank for all of the reviews! :) The intervention idea was inspired by a short comedy sketch that Matei (Jack Brett Anderson) and Rhydian (Bobby Lockwood) took part in a couple of years ago (it's on Youtube). The poem is Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe._


	17. Chapter 17

**5 months later**

"Hurry up, Rhydian!" Maddy yelled as she put the last of the blankets and cushions into the back of their name Volkswagen. Trust Rhydian to be running late! At least he'd been sensible, Maddy thought, instead of buying that sports car when he'd passed his driving test, he'd actually bought a decent family car, which Maddy was sure they were going to put to good use in the very near future.

"Walls don't paint themselves," Rhydian said as he passed a large box of food to his fiancé, "But you're right this time, if we don't pick up Jana on time she's going to kill me."

"You're agreeing with me?" Maddy asked with a smile, "That's a first."

Rhydian grinned in reply, kissing her on the cheek, "I'm full of surprises."

Maddy kissed him exuberantly. She loved Rhydian, she loved the life she had with him, she loved being back in England. Their home was beautiful, even though they were nowhere near finished decorating it. The living room had a tall pointed ceiling with beams of mahogany running across it and a plush grey carpet, it lead into a open plan kitchen with a breakfast bar and granite work surfaces, beyond that a corridor lead to the bedrooms- of which there were three- one for Maddy and Rhydian, and a girls room and a boys room which they planned to put to good use as soon as the house was decorated. Maddy had no doubt in her mind that Rhydian wanted kids now, but she didn't want to be trying to get a child to sleep whilst they were hammering in nails or drilling into walls.

Maddy and Rhydian turned as they heard the sound of a motorbike engine, and Rhydian shook his head in frustration as a slim figure pulled up, stopping the bike inches from the car and clambering off, pulling off her helmet and letting her long blonde hair fall messily down her back.

Maddy often thought that the Morris genes dominated in Nia. She could be reckless and didn't care much about danger. At least I managed to calm Rhydian down, Maddy thought to herself gleefully.

Nia had changed a lot from when she'd first come to the human world. She was no longer broken and afraid. After a short trial, where she'd been cleared of her crimes, the government had offered her help, she'd filled out, growing a good couple of inches, and becoming quite muscular as she took up martial arts lessons. She walked with confidence, and her life was flourishing. She worked part time at the Kafe and studied architecture at the local college. Everyone knew she planned to go off to uni as soon as possible.

Looking at her made Maddy feel exhausted. Nia definitely was one of those people who like to work hard and play hard.

"Don't give me that look Rhydian!" Nia nagged, "I've been driving at twenty the whole way and the roads were pretty much deserted. I know what I'm doing. Do you think Katrina would have given me her parking space at the Kafe if she thought this was a bad idea?"

Rhydian smiled in spite of himself, "Ok, ok. It's just I don't like the idea of any of my girls riding around on those death machines."

Nia rolled her eyes, "Whilst your worrying is sweet, it's pointless. And we're not 'your girls' either, Jana is absolutely Matei's in every possible way, and... As for me."

Maddy looked shocked, "No, no way!"

"She said yes," Nia exclaimed, "Who would have thought? A few months ago you wouldn't have even considered it an option."

Rhydian sighed. It had not surprised him one bit finding out that Nia was gay. Her closeness to Jana made it obvious to everyone, he was just glad that Nia hadn't caused any tension in the pack. And now... Well it seemed she'd found a wolf or human all of her own.

Nia grinned, "I'll tell you everything when we're on our way. If we leave Jana waiting any longer she's going to explode... Like literally."

Rhydian laughed, he could actually imagine that. Arianne had grown so huge that for a while everyone thought that Jana must be having twins or even triplets. But the scans had shown just one baby, one absolutely massive baby. Everyone expect Arianne to weigh about ten pounds or so. It seemed so odd considering Jana herself was tiny and Matei, whilst rather tall, was still fairly skinny.

Rhydian remembered when Jana told her father. He'd popped into the Kafe on the way to their summer territory. It had taken them all by surprise, seeing how calmly the pack dealt with the human world. Alric had been so overjoyed, he'd even cried when Jana told him that the baby was going to be called Arianne.

Rhydian climbed up into the van. Maddy joining him.

"Goodbye baby!" Nia waved to her motorcycle, "See you in a little while. I'll miss you!"

Rhydian rolled his eyes.

Maybe everyone was right, maybe Morris's were just crazy lunatics after all.

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

Jana had been sleeping a lot and it worried Matei immensely. Even though, true to form, he'd devoured every childcare book that he could get his hands on, and he knew what Jana was going through was normal, it didn't stop him imagining all kinds of scenarios.

He stopped typing and looked at his fiancé who was curled up next to him in bed, her head wresting on her arm. He'd never seen anything so beautiful in his life.

He closed the lid of his laptop. The book was going to have to wait. No doubt he wouldn't get much writing down in the next few weeks, what with no internet and being woken up at all hours. He knew he'd miss writing, his historical fantasy book was going well. He'd soon have to start looking for an agent and publishers. Maybe he should ask Mr Jeffries, he thought.

In Matei's mind he had it all mapped out. They'd be moving into their own flat in a month's time (the Kafe would be too crowded with him, Jana, the baby, Katrina and Nia staying there), he'd finish studying the IB at college, then medicine at uni (he had his sights on Oxbridge). Then a PhD hopefully. He hoped Ceri had spoken to Alric about letting him learn some pack healing. Jana had given him her old mobile phone and Alric skyped her whenever he could. They hadn't heard from him in around a month now. Jana had started to get concerned about that, but Matei had reassured her that it was no big deal.

Matei knew from Meinir that the pack was planning a surprise. In the end Aran had gone back to them, even though he'd seriously considered becoming tame. He'd performed the rite of kinship too, with Emilia, with Matei's blessing. That meant he, Emilia, Aran and Meinir were technically siblings. He liked that, Aran was strong and caring, a good big brother figure for him and Emilia, and Meinir could certainly be relied upon to scare away anyone who wanted cause trouble.

There was a soft tap at the door and Katrina opened it slowly and carefully, trying not to wake up Jana.

"Rhydian, Maddy and Nia just arrived," she said, "And I've just finished cooking up all the meat for the journey, and some for the wild pack too. I hope I've cooked enough."

Matei smiled, "I'm sure we'll be fine. I'll just bring down the bags and then I'll wake Jana up."

Katrina picked up a Santa baby-onesie from where it rested on top of one of the rucksacks, "This is going to raise so many questions. The pack it going to be so confused."

"I know," Matei said, "I thought the mince pie one was cuter. But Jana thought dressing our daughter up as a mincemeat pie would offend the wild pack."

Katrina frowned, then shook her head, "I'm still not happy with idea of camping, but I'll do it, for Jana."

Matei smiled, "Don't worry, You'll get used to it. And if not... There's a KFC, McDonald's, Tesco's express and a Premier Inn all within five miles of the farm."

Katrina smiled, "Matei, thank you so much! Jana doesn't know how lucky she is to have such a sweet guy like you looking after her."

Matei blushed, "Well in a week or so I don't think she's going to be too happy with me. When she can't get a good night's sleep."

"Well all you have to remind her," Katrina said, "Is that she was the one who forgot the protection, not you."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

The back of the Volkswagen was decorated like a palace. A very fluffy palace, with tons of cushions, and blankets and velvet throws. Jana was very snug, seated amongst them all, she felt very sleepy and very warm, and rested her head on Matei's shoulder, feeling her eyelids become heavier and heavier. Until...

"Black pudding!" Jana yelled exuberantly as Katrina started to serve up their lunch. Jana's cravings had been crazy- at first she craved nothing but raspberries and blueberries, then it had been chorizo, and now it was black pudding. Not that Jana minded one bit. Of course, she still had to be careful, far from being low in iron, there was a danger now that she would consume too much. Dr Whitewood had kept a close eye on her ever since the blood tests came back positive for pernicious anaemia- Jana had been taken B12 and iron supplement since and her health had improved drastically, she felt so much more energetic, she had some colour in her cheeks, and she was proud to admit that she even had managed to get a slight tan over the summer.

"Only another hundred and twenty seven miles to go!" Rhydian announced, "Why did they have to move the pack to Norfolk? Of all the places..."

Jana smiled, "The wild pack has never been there. They used to travel a lot before my mum died. After that they became afraid of moving in case they encountered humans. They mostly stuck to Wales or Scotland. My dad said he was going to take them to the beach one day. Imagine that, wild-bloods at the beach! I can just imagine the cubs reaction. They're going to love it."

"It will be good for Emilia too," Matei added, "She loves the sea."

"Don't tell me you packed a swim suit for Ari," TJ teased.

Jana gave a serious look, "Of course. I want her to learn how to swim as soon as possible, she needs to feel confident in the water."

"You know I'm a good swimming instructor," Meinir offered.

"You pushed Bryn off a hill into a lake," Rhydian clarified, "That's what Aran told me."

"Yeah, I remember that," Jana said, "I'm going to stick with proper instructors, no offence."

Arianne kicked a little, and Jana could feel her fidgeting.

"It won't be long now," Jana said to her, "Then you'll get to meet Grandpa and Uncle Aran properly. You'll be absolutely spoilt!"

TJ appeared to be counting everyone, "How many people are there in the wild pack?"

"Thirty-eight," Jana replied.

"So that's thirty eight plus me, Selina, Nia, Meinir, Matei, my mum, Katrina, Rhydian, Maddy, Ceri, Gerwyn, Dr Whitewood, Mr Jeffries," TJ said, "So that's fifty-two people who are going to want to hold Arianne. Tell me again why you bought a travel cot."

Jana grinned, "Yeah, I doubt she's going to use it much."

"Little Alpha princess Arianne Madalina," Matei said, placing a hand on Jana's stomach, "Our little princess."

BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK

 **Three Days Later**

The whole pack waited nervously, gathered outside of Jana's tent. Protocol stated that no one apart from the pack healers and humans doctors were allowed into the tent. Well no one except Nia, Maddy, Selina and Katrina.

Even Matei wasn't allowed in.

Alric paced nervously, as he always did when he felt that Jana was in danger. He'd been happy to see her. She looked so radiant and he could tell that the best years of her life were just beginning to start. But she was still his little girl, even if he was going to have another little girl in his life soon, even if Jana was going to be a mother.

He'd spent all morning praying to the Gods. He'd fasted just as the rest of the pack had. Now all he could do was wait.

"How do they know it's definitely a girl?" Cadwr asked.

"They have machines," Emilia explained, "And tests. They can find out long before a baby is born."

"Well astrologers can do the same thing," Cadwr answered, "But they're not always very accurate."

Rhydian nodded in agreement, "I was supposed to be a girl, and a twin."

Nia laughed, "Yeah, and I was supposed to be a dwarf. I'm nearly as tall as Rhydian!"

"I wonder if Arianne will be short like Jana," Cadwr pondered.

"I want her to have Jana's hair," Gwyn said as she joined them, "It would be a shame for that not to be passed on to her children."

"I think Ari is going to be the first of many," Emilia said.

"Well they have left it quite late," Cadwr answered, "I mean Jana is what, seventeen, nearly eighteen. Most wolfbloods have their first baby at fourteen or fifteen."

"Not me," Gwyn answered, "This pack is a desert when it comes to potential husbands, and anyway I'm prioritising my career in healing."

Rhydian smiled at the young girl, "I'm sure you'll make a great healer."

"I wish she'd just hurry up," Gerwyn complained, "I'm starving. I want this feast to start as soon as possible."

Ceri rolled her eyes, as she appeared from the tent, looking exhaust but happy, "Well it appears you've got your wish."

The pack looked around in happy surprise as they heard a loud cry coming from the tent. Arianne.

"Gods!" Gerwyn yelled over the noise, "She's got a strong pair of lungs hasn't she?!"

Matei grinned, and with a nod from Ceri, he rushed towards the tent.

Jana looked shattered but happy as she held the newborn baby in her arms. Ari wriggled, pulling funny faces and opening and closing her tiny hands. She already had pudgy arms and legs and looked adorable in her wolf-costume onesie, the hood pulled up so that the wolf ears were visible. Ari already had a thick head of hair- a dark red, darker than Jana's, almost black, but still obviously red. Matei knew her hair colour could change, but it really hoped it wouldn't.

"She's so perfect," Jana said, her voice sounding croaky, happy tears forming in her eyes.

Matei was blinking away tears too as Jana passed his daughter to him, "She's so perfect, and heavy."

Jana giggled, "They got it wrong. 11 pounds exactly. Must be all that black pudding."

Matei smiled, just as Arianne opened her eyes. Her eyes were a dark brown, just like Matei's and she clumsily reached to grab Matei's finger, closing her little fist around it, with a look of determination that said she's claimed Matei as her own and was never letting go.

Ari grimaced as Matei knealt next to Jana.

"She's hungry," Jana said, "Of course she's hungry."

"How can you tell so easily?" Matei asked.

"Wild-bloods," Jana said, "It's one of their many skills. I'll teach you."

Matei smiled, "I guess we have a lot to learn now. Now, that life's never going to be the same again."

"I'm glad life isn't going to be the same," Jana said.

She looked down at her daughter who stared up at them with wide eyed wonder.

The pack had began to move into the tent and Jana watched as her father knealed next to her looking at Arianne and his daughter with proud eyes.

"She looks so much like you and your mother," Alric said in a quiet and amazed voice.

Jana smiled, she had got everything she wanted, her family, her pack, all together at this most important of moments.

One pack. United. Facing the world together.

A brave new world where wolfbloods and humans lived together in harmony.

The kind of world Jana had always wanted for her children and her children's child.

It was only just beginning.

THE END

Thank for all of the reviews! I can't wait for series 5!


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